MS Gundam SEED Spectrum : Twilight
by NoshMono
Summary: To Kira Yamato, it seemed like an inconsequential decision at that time. However, the decision was the one that would inevitably changed the future of mankind and Earthsphere. An AU beginning of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Kira x Flay story fork
1. Spectrum

Kira wiped off the sweat off his eyebrows using the sleeves of his mechanic uniform, not really caring that he was smearing some grease onto his face. He put down the spanner that he was carrying and took a deep breath. "Let's try it out," he said to himself as he pressed the switch on the machine in front of him. The machine belched some smoke and started making coughing noise. Just as he was about to suspect the worse, the machine came to life.

"How is it?" a man behind him asked. "I can hear the generator making some sound."

"The generator is okay," Kira turned toward the man who was blind and announced, smiling in satisfaction.

"God bless you, Kira. Having you come here all the way from Orb… I wish we can repay you for…"

"It's okay, Father Malchio. I'm always happy to help."

Three children ran past the two of them, playing tags.

"Unlike these orphans I was lucky to be adopted by my parents," Kira said wistfully. "So I never knew the pain of being alone. However, that doesn't mean I can't play my part as a human being." He gazed skywards. "I wish people would be more understanding of each other."

"Then, please don't let yourself lose that hope," the blind priest said.

* * *

Athrun stared at Dearka who was on a hammock, strumming a guitar. "Aren't you on duty right now?"

"Well, yea but I got someone to replace me."

"Being a redcoat doesn't mean you can run from your duty, Dearka."

"Nor does it mean you should flaunt your authority, Athrun," another person said.

"Yzak."

"You really enjoyed rubbing it in our face that you're our leader, don't you?" the silver-haired man asked.

"Athrun, Yzak, don't fight," Nichol broke his silence.

"That's quite pointless, Nichol," Rusty said.

"Once they started, there's no stopping them," Dearka said as he continued strumming his guitar. "But even though Yzak resents Athrun's position, he, as a rule would never disobey an order in battle unless it is necessary. Athrun may not like Yzak being a hothead but I think he knows Yzak's value to the team. All in all, I think the two will be fine."

"Dearka."

"So, let us just enjoy the show."

It was Cosmic Era 71 and four months had passed since the war between Earth and ZAFT had started. The trigger to the full-scale conflict was the surprise attack on Junius section and the subsequent capture of Junius Eleven and Junius Twelve by Alliance space commandos who managed to force their disconnection from the rest of the colonies. Efforts to recapture the colonies were frustrated by the risks posed by such operation.

As a result of the battle, Alliance had around half a million hostages who didn't know that their life could be forfeit at any time. However, despite the capture, Alliance allowed humanitarian aides to flow into the two colonies. On the Alliance's side, even though the anti-Coordinator's sentiment was quite strong especially after the deaths of United Nation's Representatives in a bomb attack blamed on ZAFT, attacking civilians outright would never be received positively because it would be seen as an invitation for ZAFT to do the same. While Patrick Zala wanted to use their capture as a rallying cry despite Siegel Clyne's protest, he didn't do so because it would reaffirm PLANTs vulnerability and subsequently caused some to press for peace.

So, the two colonies that were the trigger for the war remained just that as the war shifted away and away. ZAFT, in a tit-for-tat respond organized a staging base in the Gulf of Carpenteria and use it to attack other parts of Earth. While it managed to capture few Alliance territories, hoping to use them as bargaining chips, the gambit failed because the Alliance was a rather loose coalition and thus no consensus could be gained from it.

Instead of negotiating, Alliance propaganda used the capture to illustrate the danger of 'insane invaders from space,' stopping short of fully referring them as Coordinators but the subtext was still there. The war escalated to the point that it was a simple war of attrition where ZAFT's technologically superior mobile suits were pitted against Alliance's overwhelming amount of ground tanks and mobile armours.

While doomsayers and few military pundits had predicted the use of nuclear weapons, it didn't happen because both sides were wary of mutual assured destruction in which the use of a nuclear weapon by one side would result in the escalation of nuclear warfare which in turn would cause the destruction of both sides. No anti-ballistic missile was deemed satisfactory enough to defend against such calamity. Even though ZAFT had the N-Jammer technology which theoretically would defend against the nuclear attacks, Alliance had developed Cyclops missiles that would use that very same technology against ZAFT. On the other hand, PLANTs being located in space would allow it to easily launch any nuclear missiles at any city on Earth with less fuel and energy consideration.

To allay negative public reactions, both sides reaffirmed their adherence to Nuclear Proliferation Treaty which also limited the use of nuclear power on military vehicles smaller than a warship to prevent nuclear attacks by detonating mobile suits or mobile armour. Even the nuclear warships were required to have fully shielded generators to prevent nuclear explosions should they were destroyed.

Thus the war had been fought using conventional means and while in the beginning Alliance had an edge, ZAFT had developed five new prototypes dubbed as 'Gundams' the name being derived from the operating system they were using. Matched with ZAFT's best aces, the redcoats, the Gundams proved to be dangerous adversaries.

Coordinators or not, Gundam pilots were humans and Dearka had admitted himself as a lazy and laid-back person. He would fight when time comes but before then he would like to take it easy. "Yo, Nichol."

"Yes?" Nichol asked, turning away from the still arguing duo.

"Have you heard the rumor of a special force being formed to fight against us?"

The other man nodded. "My father did talk about it. Alliance propaganda."

"From what I hear," Rusty added, "the special force name is Fairy"

"Fairy?" Dearka said with disbelief. "What kind of nerd-sounding name is that? What, Alliance is so scared that now they're getting the tooth fairy to help as well? How ridiculous."

"I heard that the special force comprises of women only."

The blonde ace grinned. "Wow, talk about using distraction as military tactics. In that case I can't wait to meet those beauties."

He didn't know it at the time but eventually Dearka would be forced to swallow those words.

* * *

As Earth continued to spin on its axis, a plan was nearing completion. Alliance had determined to bring war to ZAFT's footstep and the way to do that was by attacking Carpenteria base. Three disguised ships had been stationed 500 kilometers above Earth in an orbit that would eventually bring them directly above the base in two weeks time. Their almost stationary movement had been construed by ZAFT's remote sensing systems as nothing more than mere space debris and even though a ZAFT technician had mentioned about them to his superiors, his concern was dismissed as being unfounded and borderline paranoid.

Inside the ships, there was a flurry of activities as final preparations are made for the mission. Tension was everywhere and the mission commander, sitting inside the bridge of capital ship was also affected by the intense pressure.

"Relax, Murrue," a man said to the mission commander. "You have to keep calm despite those things."

Murrue looked at the man. "I didn't remember allowing you to call me by name, Captain Mwu La Fllaga."

"Ouch. How cold of you. Come on, you have to admit being called 'Colonel Murrue' makes you feel old."

"I guess…" she conceded. "How's the preparation on your side?"

"Done. As planned, the Mobiuses would launch to protect the ships after the operation starts."

"Good." Murrue was quiet for a while. "In the end, we're the villains, aren't we, leading those poor girls to their dooms."

"I don't know… but what I do know if not you become their commander, someone else will and that someone wouldn't probably treat them with kindness as you did. Someone like Sutherland, for example."

She closed her eyes. "That bastard…"

"You know that Admiral Halberton opposed the Extended program so he had to come forth with a viable alternative. That why we have PIXIE program in place of that other one."

Physiologically Improved eXpanded Interaction Emulator program, in short, PIXIE. The program to produce pilots that could keep up with Coordinators through mentally and physically exhausting training programs as well the developments of electronic interface and operating system for the mobile suits that would piloted by such pilots. The initial stage of the training program selected only woman pilots due to their natural ability to multitask compared to the man's capability to concentrate on a single objective. While the rival Extended program allowed creation of many biological CPUs through the use of drugs and implants, the PIXIE program had the advantage as being a morally acceptable alternative.

"So we have to prove that PIXIE program is viable, huh?" Murrue asked.

"The propaganda machinery will be milking this for all its worth if the attack succeeds."

"Yeah. It's for the best, isn't it?" Murrue asked rhetorically.

"You got it.

"You're kind, do you know that? I asked the PIXIEs and they said that not once you're trying to take advantage of them and instead you played the role of an older brother."

"That's because it would insulting to them and myself if I tricked them." Mwu said. "Besides, I don't want their older sister to be mad at me," he continued and smirked at Murrue.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Yes, yes." He looked at the watch. "Time to go now," Mwu said as he left the bridge. "ZAFT wouldn't appreciate what we're about to do to its precious base." He stopped and smiled at the commander. "A date when we got back?" he said as the door in front of him opened.

"I don't date mobile armour pilots," Murrue replied.

"Well then, glad to hear that; less competition for me since I'm a mobile suit pilot now," he remarked as he resumed his movement. "See you later," he continued before the door closed behind him."

Murrue watched the closed door until she felt that everyone's eyes were on her "What?" she snapped.

"You're blushing, Commander," Neumann, sitting at the helms commented.

"Wha… what… what? Blu… blushing? I don't… kn… know what you're… talking about. I… I'm not blushing," the normally unflappable Murrue stuttered.

"Whatever you say, Commander." The helmsman said evenly that it was hard to determine whether he was being sarcastic or not.

"Approaching drop zone in T-minus one minute!" Abby, the CIC operator announced, breaking what would be an embarrassing moment.

Instantly, everyone in the bridge turned serious. Immeasurable resources have been allocated for the mission.

"T-minus forty five seconds!"

Months and months of planning each objectives and goals, with each activity that would be carried out being measured by seconds instead of hours or even minutes.

"T-minus thirty seconds."

Weeks have been spent anticipating what would be the turning point of the war between Alliance and ZAFT.

"T-minus fifteen seconds."

ZAFT would be caught unaware and at the end of the day, the future would be determined by this mission alone.

"T-minus zero!"

"Commence 'Operation Shooting Star'," Murrue said.

* * *

More than a hundred of conical-shaped things began their slow reentry with the wider side facing downwards. The arrangement would create a very big drag that would eventually cushion them against shockwave and heated shockwave layer. This in turn would reduce the heat enough for the units' heat shield consisting of fiberglass layered with asbestos textolite to cope with. Their entry would be detected; there was no way of mistaking their numerous presences.

However, that was also predicted, along with ZAFT's interception capabilities. Having technological superiority, ZAFT opted to install mostly beam-based air batteries around the base with only few missiles interceptors. While such arrangement would allow rapid engagement of any normal hostile targets, they wouldn't work against the units because the beams would be stopped by the heat shields. Few of the units would be destroyed by the missiles interceptors but it wouldn't matter much.

In response, ZAFT would launch its mobile suits squadrons to destroy them. However, by the time it begun to launch its first mobile suit, some of the units had reached the 8000 meters altitude above the sea-level. One by one the units would then had their skins peeled of via explosive cutting charge, revealing the submunitions inside them. A centrifugal dispenser inside each of them would eject the submunitions in a way to ensure maximum coverage of firepower. Each of the submunitions would scan the area beneath them using a combination of heat detection and contour difference imaging to determine their targets. They would then fire off the explosively formed penetrators attached toward the designated targets.

At this stage, attempts by the beam-based air batteries as well as airborne mobile suits trying to shoot down the penetrators were, at best inconsequential. In fact some of the mobile suits, in their zeal to protect the base by shooting down the penetrators would ironically succumb to them.

Multiple fireballs began appearing all over the Carpenteria base as the phase one of the 'Operation Shooting Star' had been concluded.

* * *

Athrun kept quiet as the whole place trembled and the ceiling light began blinking. The trembling continued for another twenty seconds and when it stopped, he turned his attention at his team. "Alliance is stupid if it attacks this place, huh?" he asked sarcastically.

"We have no reason to be scared," Yzak scoffed. "Our barracks as well as hangars are located underground."

"Come on!" Athrun said, leaving the room and began making his way to the hangar amidst announcement that the base had been attacked. Yzak was mistaken. Despite being underground, they had a lot of reasons to be concerned. They were fortunate that whoever attacking them wasn't using bunker buster bombs. While the hot tempered man would have attributed the omission of such weapons in the attack as part of Alliance's oversight, Athrun begged to differ. Normal military doctrine stated that having entrenched fortification was an advantage against conventional bombing which is why the presence of the underground complex below the base. However normal military doctrine also stated that anti-fortification weapons must be employed in order to destroy such fortification; hence it was rather strange that they weren't used.

But he filed that away for later consideration as at that moment he had a more important issue to settle: defeating the invaders. "Rusty, equip Strike with Aile Striker for aerial engagement."

"Got it," Rusty said

"Yzak and I would also engage the enemy from the air with our Guul units and Dearka would provide fire support from below since the recoil from its gun would affect smooth targeting."

"How about me?" Nichol asked.

"I want you to engage Mirage Colloid and wait for targets of opportunity."

"What?" Yzak asked. "You're telling him to play possum?"

"It is not 'play possum'. It's finding out what the enemy is after. Besides, I did say Blitz is to take out targets of opportunity, didn't I?"

"ALERT!" the siren blared. "WE DETECT THE SECOND WAVE OF ENEMY ATTACK. ALL GUNDAM UNITS ARE TO LAUNCH IMMEDIATELY."

* * *

Twelve drop modes disengaged, revealing a mobile suit inside each one of them. Observers would later identifie the mobile suits as Daggers though they would be mistaken as they weren't Daggers that would debut in another battle a month after that. The mobile suits were GATX-03 Spitfire. Armed with a beam rifle held in the right hand and A52 offensive shield type E, the mobile suits were also equipped with Glide-unit that allowed them to fight in the air. Inside such unit's cockpit, the helmet-mounted panoramic display allowed the pilot of almost unrestricted view in all direction. However coping with the added sensory information provided by such system required a Coordinator or a PIXIE pilot.

Miriallia Haw always had an optimistic view of live. However, she more or less accepted the fact that the squadron of PIXIE pilots she was leading had a very slim chance of surviving the upcoming battle. Even in the briefing it was laid bare to all of them: the squadron would drop onto the base and engage the famous or rather infamous five prototype mobile suits known for destroying 2nd Fleet in Asteroid Belt battle. There was no mention of the squadron's retrieval and she expected such as Alliance, in its infinite wisdom had committed the result of its PIXIE program into destroying the highly advance mobile suits.

"Incoming interceptor missiles!" one of her subordinates announced.

"Four chaff!" she commanded. "Activate ECM!"

As she commanded, four rockets were fired by the squadron toward the interceptors. The rockets then burst, spreading clouds of small, thin pieces of aluminium and fiberglass, creating radar echoes that would confuse the sensors on the interceptors as well as their ground controllers. Even though the interceptors were equipped with secondary infrared sensors, the use of electric propulsion on the Glide units created so little infrared emissions that duping them with flares was quite simple.

However, one missile managed to get through the chaff cloud and strike the mobile suit belonging to Nina Barnrose, Miriallia's first friend since she joined the PIXIE program. A moment the airwave was filled with her frantic voice and a moment later she was silenced forever as her mobile suit was engulfed in a giant fireball.

There was no time mourn, only time to fight.

"Battery packs had landed on the ground," Miriallia's second-in-command reported.

"Good. Remember to replenish the energy supply as needed. The rest of the flight will provide cover while the battery is being replaced. Once we destroy the prototypes, we're to fly to the neutral ORB water and jettison our mobile suits there." Despite the fact that there was no escape plan for her squadron, she took it upon herself to come up with one.

* * *

"They're good," Dearka said in awe at the eleven hostile mobile suits attacking the base.

"This is not the time to be impressed!" Yzak shouted over the com-line.

"But to think that they can pull of something as daring as this, it's unthinkable," Nichol said as his already visible Blitz tried to attack one of them unsuccessfully. His mobile suit had to disengage the Mirage Colloid system as the chaff cloud that engulfed the base had disrupted the colloid's wave bending properties, rendering it visible to enemy radar and optical cameras.

"I heard you're talking about those so-called beauties just now, didn't you?" Yzak taunted Dearka. "Now, are you satisfied?"

"Don't blame him," Athrun said while being engaged in melee combat with what seemed to be the enemy's squadron leader. "Uggh!" he growled as the enemy landed a kick on Aegis' torso. While his appraisal of the enemy mobile suits being inferior to his unit was on-spot, they made up for the deficiency through close teamwork. Even Yzak was being pressured back with Duel lost its left hand. "Damn!"

* * *

"Piece of cake, Commander," Mwu reported to the ship's bridge. "They only sent a Nazca and one shot to the aft engine and it's not a threat anymore."

"How about the mobile suits?"

"Taken care off even though only two Mobieus part from myself remained."

"Commander," Abby reported. "We're receiving an encrypted transmission."

"Return to the ship." Murrue told Mwu. "Tell your wing mates to return to theirs as well."

"Roger," the man acknowledge before signing off.

"Transmission from who, Abby?"

"I think… it's from Admiral Halberton, ma'am."

Murrue couldn't believe what she was hearing. For the admiral to be contacting her, something big must have happen. "Put him through."

The admiral came on screen and Murrue saluted. The man saluted back.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"What is the progress of the operation?"

"It's proceeding as planned, sir. Right now our squadron is engaging the five mobile suit prototypes."

"Good. However, there's a change of plan."

"Change of plan?"

"Yes. Archangel is to land in Cairns near Carpenteria to recover one of our operatives." The admiral smiled a bit. "Of course while in the area, recovering our pilots is an added bonus."

"If I can ask sir, who is the person we're supposed to recover?"

* * *

"I'm sorry," the woman said as she knocked a man's head against the wall. She then pushed his face toward a console at the wall, holding one of his eyes open. Once the console verification had been completed, she smashed his head against the wall again, this time rendering him unconscious. "Even though we worked together and you always help me with my troubles, in the end, I betray you and everyone. Well, I don't expect your forgiveness for this."

A door opened, revealing a squad of soldiers armed with silenced weapons.

"How's the situation?" the woman asked.

"We took care of everyone," the squad leader reported. "How's on your end?"

"Done."

The squad leader pointed toward few bodies strewn on the floor. "They're still alive," he commented while pointing his rifle toward one of them.

The woman pushed the barrel of the weapon down. "Are you questioning my decision, sergeant?" she asked coldly.

"No, ma'am," the man said while pulling away the rifle. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Good. Destroy the security system," she handed him a disk. "download all information that using this key and then wipe out all records. Afterwards your squad is to clear the whole place immediately."

"Understood."

Few minutes later, she was inside a cockpit, entering a few commands and the main screen came to life.

**S**pecial

**P**urpose

**E**xo-symmetric

**C**ombat

**T**actics

**R**obust

**U**nilateral

**M**odule

ZGMF-X111- Ψ

"A 'Ψ' model? What the hell is that? I thought it's supposed to be an 'A' or at most 'S'. How can we prove that ZAFT is developing nuclear model?" she said to herself in frustration. When she infiltrated the research group as an administrative assistant, she was ordered to find out the development of new 'Gundam' by ZAFT purported to be nuclear-powered. However, what she was seeing at the screen seemed to prove that the info was wrong.

"Huh?" she uttered as the whole cockpit began to glow. She began twiddling with the controls only to have her chair moving backward and safety straps kept her in place.

**_"Psychoframe at operational level. Synchronizing with designated pilot's key. Standby for initial synchronizing,"_** a metallic voice announced as a helmet behind the seat covered the woman's face. Instantly she felt her body assailed with unfathomable pain.

* * *

"Our orders have been changed. We're to rendezvous with Archangel in Cairn," Miriallia announced to her squadron or rather what remained to it. She had lost seven comrades but at least one enemy mobile suit had been destroyed while the other two heavily damaged.

"Roger!" all except one of her compatriots acknowledged the order.

"Stellar, do you hear that?"

"Stellar heard. We're going home?"

Miriallia didn't hesitate at all. "Yes, we're going home."

"Yay!"

She let loose a couple of shots at the float unit the red prototype was on, forcing it aground. Seeing that none of the prototypes were in any position to chase after them, she joined the rest of her squadron.

"COWARDS!" Yzak shouted, unable to open his right eye to the blood trickling down from his forehead. Duel had crashed after the its Guul unit was taken out, damaging it as well injuring him. But that wasn't what caused him to be angry; it was the death of one his friends, Rusty Mackenzie who died when Strike was destroyed by a melee attack by three mobile suits. He slammed his fist against the screen to his left. "Damn it! Athrun, this is your fault!"

"I told him not to underestimate his enemies," Athrun replied quietly as Aegis stood up, relatively undamaged. "And I reminded you not to give in to anger when Strike was destroyed. I also reminded everyone day after day not to let our position get to our head," he said while looking at smoke bellowing out of Buster's cooling unit. Only his unit and Blitz were lightly damaged. "Let this be a lesson to us."

"Damn!" Yzak cursed, knowing that the other man was right. It was a lesson indeed.

* * *

There were tapping sounds as Murrue rap her fingers against the hand rest. "Where's the operative?" she said out loud. While Archangel had managed to recover the PIXIEs, the ship was yet to make contact with the operative the admiral had told her about. The longer the ship lingered in the area, the bigger the risk it would be facing as ZAFT would launch an attack.

"Commander," Abby announced, "detecting ZAFT submarine in our long range sonar."

"We'll be in a pinch," Mwu said, "since only I can sortie in a Skygrasper right now.

Murrue hated the decision that she was about to make. "We'll retreat."

* * *

The dawn was just breaking over the horizon when Kira decided to walk along the beach. He always liked sunrise and since he was at the orphanage on the Marshall Island, he might as well see how the sunrise looked like from the place. Maybe he was being pretentious but the serene atmosphere made him forget that there was a war going on at that time. A war between PLANTs and Earth; a war between Coordinators and Naturals.

It was then he noticed a body on the beach and he ran toward it. It was a body of a woman with long ruby hair. "Hey, are you all right? Miss, hey!" he asked while gently shaking her.

The woman opened her eyes, revealing the dilated grey orbs inside them. She was semi-conscious. However, with great struggle, she moved her hand to point in direction. "Please…" she murmured. "I beg you… destroy that thing…" she finished before she became unconscious once more.

Kira looked at the direction the woman was pointing and saw a silhouette of something partly submerge in the nearby water. As the sun began to rise slowly over the horizon, it cast light at the silhouette. If Kira was to be asked regarding what he saw at that time, he would have said that it was beautiful. The mobile suit that he saw as simply beautiful. However, it was the same mobile suit that would inevitably change his life.

For a sixteen-year old Kira Yamato, life was very simple. He would study, and then enter university before working and eventually settling down. Because he didn't destroy the mobile suit as the woman had begged him to do due to his interest in it, his life would be twisted beyond redemption

And the future of mankind would change as a result.

* * *

**1**

* * *

**Author's note (27 February 2010) (appended on 5.3.2010 with some mistakes corrected)**

1. I always wanted to write an alternate beginning to Gundam SEED where without having to recycle the same Heliopolis concept. As you can see from the chapter, it explained why the mobile suits were battery powered and why N-Jammers weren't deployed in the first place. It had always bothered me why Alliance needed to wait until it got its paw on the N-Jammer Canceller technology before deciding to attack PLANTs when it clearly possessed something just as destructive in the form of Cyclops. All it needed to do was modified the system to be launched via missiles and such missiles would damage if not destroy the colony altogether.

2. Also, since Fukuda mentioned that SEED was closer to 'reality' than other Gundam series, I wonder why he didn't consider the MAD doctrine in SEED. I mean, even though the Alliance was being controlled by Blue Cosmos, I don't think that the Blue Cosmos didn't consider the possibility of ZAFT responding in kind, i.e. launching its own WMDs when it attacked Junius Seven. Rather strange, really.

3. I also wanted to explore the idea of Mir piloting a mobile suit and being the leader of her own squadron.

4. This is a one-shot because I wrote it without having any end planned. I always write my story with the end planned out and all events would lead to that ending. But… not this short story. It may change but right now, and in a forseeable future, it remains as a oneshot because I don't know how to proceed from here on.


	2. Pandora

He stared at the beached mobile suit. How he wished that it was one of the 'Gundams', elite ZAFT prototype mobile suits whose nickname came from their operating system: General Unilateral Neuro-Link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver and were easily distinguished by their 'samurai heads' and Phase Shift armour. However, the mobile suit in front of him was totally white in color and had a 'head' that resembled a knight's helmet, faceplate and all. All it needed was a metal horse and a lance to be a giant Don Quixote of the Cosmic Era.

Kira sighed. He must have missed his friends to be remembering Tolle's penchant for useless jokes and sarcasm. But he had no choice as when the peace talk broke out a year earlier, Cagalli's foster father saw it fit to bring him back from Heliopolis, no doubt due to urging from her. Even though she was adopted by the Attha royal family while he was adopted by the Yamatos, the two of them still maintained close ties.

He wondered whether he would finally find out their real parents. Not even Lord Attha knew who they were.

Deciding that he was wasting his time being melancholic rather than investigating the mobile suit, he exchanged his pants into shorts and wadded through the water to reach the mobile suit. After shaking as much water as he could, Kira opened hatch which wasn't even locked and entered the cockpit. He felt so out-of-this-world as he sat in the cockpit, and he wasn't thinking about the extreme giddiness in his gut. Military mobile suits were different after all, he reasoned while he tentatively touched the main console. Although he was against war and a self-admitted pacifist, he was very much enamored with mechatronics; he even intended to take double majors in mechanical and electronic engineering when he entered college. His hand moved toward what seemed to be a trigger button to fire some kind of weapon. Even though he was a pacifist, Kira wasn't stupid enough to acknowledge the fact that most technology related to mobile suits development, his favorite subject, would certainly end for use by the military months or even years before they found their way into civilian models, if ever.

For example, the use of the tandem arrangement for the mobile suit he was in. While Kira had wrote an article comparing the merits of tandem mobile suits against its single-seater cousins, the one that he was way ahead in the implementation of mobile suit's functions segregations that he couldn't understand why both seats seemed to have similar functions. Without switching on the mobile suit, he could only hazard the guess that the configuration allowed for control by both pilots. However, that conclusion seemed incorrect since the seats were placed back to back.

Perhaps he could switch on the mobile suit to see what it had…

No, he chastised himself. Even his curiosity wasn't as an excuse to gawk over a killing machine. He looked away when his forefinger moved toward the power button.

"Oops," he remarked as the main screen came to life along with the quiet humming sound of cooling fan, probably for the main computer. Since he had 'accidentally' switched on the machine, he might as well look at the screen to figure out the way to switch it off, he reasoned to himself.

The first thing he saw in the screen was a prompt was a menu indicating the absence of the default 'PANDORA' key and asking whether the system should be started in absence of it. Not knowing what the prompt meant, he chose starting the system without the so-called PANDORA, making sure to select the option for the system to use his selection as the default choice in the future.

Then, as the main operating system booted up, he noticed that there was something off with ZAFT's logo. Sure enough, the tell-tale hourglass-shaped 'Z' logo was still there but there were two additional curved lines between the top and lower edges, forming a red circle with an hourglass in the middle. Also, there was no 'Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty' slogan on the logo.

Dismissing the peculiar logo as irrelevant, he continued twiddling with the controls. To his amazement the whole cockpit lighted up before displaying outside world. He had believed that military mobile suits had advanced technology but to have an all-around panoramic view was rather exciting. If a normal military mobile suit had such a feature, he couldn't very much imagine what was inside the Gundams.

Kira was wrong because such display was just a concept among ZAFT mobile suit designers due to the prohibitively complex as well as expensive system needed to fully support such a display.

He browsed through the operating system and to his annoyance, he found out that the system barely completed with no optimization being carried out; it was rather insulting to see such a half-baked system controlling such a fine machine. He entered some subroutines to fine tune few parts, cursing the shoddy codes in contrasts to the operating system's kernel which was as solid and fully encrypted that he was rather sure that he couldn't hack it.

"Okay… Let's try to get this thing standing," he said, carefully pushing the control lever. The whole mobile suit shook before it slowly moved to right itself. "Wow!" Kira uttered as he could see the beach clearly from the cockpit.

If he had looked at the display behind him, he would have noticed a silhouette of a mobile suit watching him for a few seconds before discreetly moving away.

* * *

"Damn those Alliance bastards... When I get my hands on them, they would pay for it." Yzak said while his finger idly traced a scar line across his right eye. Fortunately the injury wasn't deep enough to end his career as a mobile suit pilot permanently.

If not for the matter being a serious one and Yzak was itching to vent his frustration on someone, Dearka would have joked about 'getting his hands' on the enemy pilots.

"I still don't understand why we lose to those assholes." Yzak said, continuing his rant. He had seen the news about the so-called Alliance's victory over ZAFT. While even idiots would know that the broadcast was a pure propaganda on the faction's behalf, there was no denying the fact that their attack had succeeded to a certain degree.

"Maybe it's because all of you didn't work together; I certainly can see that from your battle tactic," a female voice remarked.

Yzak snapped his head toward the origin of the voice and within a second was already in front of the person, wanting to grab her collar.

However, the newcomer easily swatted his hand away and said, "I would suggest restrain on your behavior, Ensign Joule or do you really think that your mother's power would allow you to act as you please?"

The man held the hand that was pushed away and was about to retort back when he finally realized who the person was. "Talia Gladys…"

Talia clucked her tongue in derision, "It seems that the rumors about this group members being so full of themselves are true after all."

Yzak felt his vision turned red. "Why you…"

"Stop it!" Athrun reprimanded. "Can't you see her rank?"

The silver-haired Coordinator stopped and examined her closely. While he knew that Talia was a ship's captain judging from her white uniform, him being a redcoat elite meant that he was almost at par with her rank. Then he saw the small badge on her lapel. It was the FAITH badge. Known as Fast Acting Integrated Tactical Headquarters, a person bestowed with such honor would operate outside the regular ZAFT command structure and report directly to the PLANT Supreme Council. A FAITH also had the authority to plan operation and issue orders to the regular military as long as the orders wouldn't conflict with the higher chain-of-command's directives. "Why are you here?" he huffed.

"Because all of you were busy sulking here, you weren't there to see my ship's arrival,"

"Minerva!" Nicol said, referring to the new ZAFT flagship that was designed as a naval space vessel. It was rumored that Minerva's design was derived from Earth Alliance's Archangel-class ship plans. "Wait, aren't the ship is supposed to land the next week?"

"That's why I said you weren't paying attention; the higher commands decided to speed up deployment of Minerva since what happened."

Dearka bowed in a gentlemanly manner. "So what does the fair lady wants with the ragtag group of self-absorbed brutes likes us?" He felt that he already knew the answer but would like her to clarify it.

"The four of you would be put under my command."

As usual, Dearka's guess was right on the money.

Yzak however was furious. "You can't just waltz here and…"

Talia tapped a letter on his nose. "This is a transfer order approved by PLANTs. If you want to appeal, you may do so. But regardless of the council's decision, your mobile suit would be in my command. In case you're wondering, I'm fine with anyone else piloting Duel."

"Fine," Yzak conceded grudgingly. To be assigned to a grunt after piloting Duel was tantamount to demotion.

The captain smiled. "Good. You're to prep up and report onboard Minerva at 0600 hours tomorrow. We're going to Cairns to do some investigation."

"Cairns?" Athrun asked. "Why?"

"Archangel was spotted there."

"Maybe it was recovering their mobile suits?" Nichol asked.

"No. It wouldn't make sense to do so near the city's outskirt. Besides, we have reports of a ZAFT facility there being attacked by Alliance's special force."

Dearka held up his hand lazily. "Forgive me for asking but as far as I remember, we have no ZAFT facility over there."

"Precisely."

* * *

Rey Za Burrel was known for being level-headed at all times but even he felt reluctant being tasked with telling the man in front of him the bad news; the man was indulging in his own private time, gazing on Earth from the glass panel of his room. However, it had to be done. "Gilbert…"

"We lost Spectrum," the other man said.

"You knew."

The man named Gilbert gestured toward the blue planet. "Even from here I can feel its activation by someone."

"What should we do about it?"

"Nothing. For it to be activated by a 'key' even before we find such a person is something rather unexpected. Right now, I'm interested with what will happen next. Will the 'key' find someone who will use her to open 'it'? I would like to think not. Without having to strain ourselves, we will regain Spectrum."

"But what if the so-called 'key' managed to find such person?"

"Then, it is destiny."

Rey didn't like the rather short and vague answer. He was about to comment on it when he realized something. "How do you know that the person who stole our prototype is a woman?"

Gilbert turned toward him. "Rey, do you know the story about how Prometheus gave humans the gift of fire?"

The blonde man nodded. "The myth started around 7-8 BC where he stole the fire hidden by Zeus and return it to mankind. In return Zeus punished him by having his heart be eaten by an eagle everyday only to have it regenerated at night time. Heracles eventually freed him from his curse."

"Yes, but I'm talking about Pandora, the supposed first woman fashioned by Hephaestus to live with men."

Rey narrowed his eyes. He knew that she was made of clay and brought to life by four winds; she was the one who released into the whole world all evils that had been contained inside a vase she was carrying. However, he didn't see the connection between the disappearance of their prototype and the ancient mythological character whose appearance was similar to those of Prometheus. "I don't see what you're hinting."

Gilbert smiled mysteriously. "Patient, Rey. You must remember that Greeks was a paternal-based society. Let's say a woman carried out a heroic deed. Wouldn't it be beyond imagination to say that her deed would be 'edited' by storytellers?" His smile widened when Rey frowned even further. "Yes. You can see the possibility. Now, wouldn't it be much a stretch to suggest that perhaps Prometheus was actually Pandora? Imagine this version: Pandora stole a vase containing all the 'evils in the world' from Zeus. She then took out one of the 'evils' and gave it to mankind, warning that just as it could be beneficial to them, it could also become their worst enemy if not properly controlled and harnessed."

"You're saying that Pandora was the one who gave mankind fire?"

"No, I'm not insinuating such; I'm merely pointing out the plausible possibility that perhaps a storyteller would changed his story a bit to make it more interesting for his audience, that's all," he said while smiling.

"Then…"

"Imagine that one day, perhaps one hundred years ago, someone found the vase belonging to Pandora and studied its content. The result of such study is the birth of the first Coordinator, George Clenn. Even as the world was torn asunder by the man's selfish creation, another Coordinator who saw the error of his brother's way cloned himself in order to continue studying the vase. Three generations later, his newest clone finally rebelled." Gilbert coughed and put a hand to his mouth. When he stopped coughing, he pulled away his hand only have droplets of blood floating out of his mouth. "This will be a hassle to clean," he remarked.

"That's why you created Spectrum?"

"My great-grandfather, if I'm to refer him biologically, was content to play gods, controlling everyone on Earth and PLANTs from the shadows, just like a skilled puppeteer. His 'son' and 'grandson' also did the same. But I am different. I will give the vase to mankind in hope that it would be used accordingly."

"But what happened if your prediction is wrong and the vase is used wrongly?"

"Let me make it clear to you that I don't predict anything with what I did. My time is almost up and I've decided to end the curse of Durandal on humanity with my life. If, like you suggest, mankind is not worthy to receive the vase, then perhaps mankind doesn't deserve to rule Earth. However…"

"However?"

"Perhaps the old-types, the defiant Naturals and the arrogant Coordinators could be shown that their evolution paths would amount to nothing; the only way forward would be shown by another…the new human" Gilbert shrugged. "But I'm not going to interfere because my work is done. From now on, I will bear witness to the destiny of humankind."

"How about me?" Rey asked, narrowing his eyes.

The older man put his hand on the man's shoulder fondly. "It is up to you to fork out your path."

"Even if my path would interfere with your work?"

"If you wish it to be."

"Very well," Rey said as he turned to leave. "I will do what I see to be the right thing."

"Oh, by the way…"

"Hmm?"

"Everything that I said is just a conjecture. The mythological 'Pandora' might, in fact be a man. Perhaps it would help you to remember that."

"I will."

* * *

Murrue was about to enter her cabin when Mwu popped seemingly out of nowhere."

"A word with you in the private, Colonel?" he said.

Normally, such question from a man in that place and time would imply that it would lead to something else that had little to do with words and more with action; Mwu was a normal man. However, he could be business-like and serious and at that time Murrue could see that he really have something to say. "Come in." Even if he really had something else in mind, Murrue wasn't sure that she would be totally against it.

As the door closed behind them, Mwu took the seat near the table, leaving her to sit on her bed. He really had something serious to discuss, Murrue realized with a small pang of disappointment. "So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Since we already lost contact with command, maybe it's time we discuss our separate orders from Admiral Halberton," Mwu said.

"Separate orders?"

"Yes. I have to admit that your records are quite good, Murrue but you have to admit it is a bit strange why someone as young as you was promoted to be a colonel and was given this ship. Halberton had to pull lots and lots of strings to achieve that and you know about the rumor mill."

Murrue wanted to let out an exasperated breath. She did hear about the rumor regarding Admiral Halberton and her having an affair. But she flipped her hair and smirked "You know that the two of us was an item so I have to wonder why you bother with all that flirting?"

Mwu smirked back. "Ah, making the impossible possible is my specialty." He then turned serious. "Besides, no man would simply promote his woman just so that he could send her away on a suicide mission; sending his mother-in-law, yes, but not his woman. Plus, you're not the only person who knows him personally."

"I guess."

"So, let's start with the mission given to me. "I already know from the very beginning our ship is going to land on Earth."

"I know that as well. Even though we're supposed to sacrifice the PIXIE squadron in the first place, Admiral Halberton told me that we're going to recover them along with the order to retrieve our so-called agent."

Oh," Mwu said before fishing out a small table computer from his cloth and switched it on. "Actually, the real order is to retrieve whatever the agent is carrying and if required, I'm to kill her."

"What?" Murrued asked.

The man handled the tablet to her. "Flay Allster, the love child of the Senator Allster with a scientist from PLANTs.

"A Coordinator?"

"Not sure. Remember, despite all that craps our own media are spouting, PLANTs have a rather significant number of Naturals as well and the dead senator isn't known for being friendly to Coordinators. But that's irrelevant. Whether she's a Coordinator or not, the fact is she is a Blue Cosmos sleeper agent in Ocenia and for her to be activated, something major must have happened. My job is to ensure that whatever it is, it wouldn't fall into the hand of the likes of Djibril and Azrael."

"I see. I probably wouldn't have the heart to do such a thing."

"That's why I'm here. But the problem is now."

"Huh?"

"I take it that you don't know what to do next? The same thing with me. Well, we can search for the agent but maybe she was killed off or something so it's out of our hand. But what should we do next? Head to Alaska or maybe Pearl Harbour?" He sighed. "The communication problem is really a pain in the ass."

Murrue took out the memory disk containing her orders from the admiral and look at it closely. "Maybe there's something else… I remember seeing some gibberish on mine."

"Just like mine." Mwu expression changed into one of realization. "Maybe we're supposed to put it together or something?"

"Let's try it. Give me yours."

The man handed his memory disk, not bothering to make a joke regarding her statement.

Murrue entered both her and Mwu's memory disks into her computer and began a decryption program. "It is possible that my orders and your orders would lead to a new one." A text box appeared, telling the two of them that the decryption was completed before a new appeared, revealing the coded message.

"This…" Mwu trailed as he tried to understand the ramification of the order being given to him and Murrue.

Murrue put her hands on lower half of her face as her body began to tremble. "Impossible…" she said as tears began to slide down her face. "Impossible…"

* * *

Her training had taught her that having Coordinator-like skills wasn't required to know that she was inside a small room without having to open her eyes. All she needed to do was to listen attentively the movement of air to know it as air movement inside a small confined place is different compared to a bigger area. She could also hear the distant roar of waves which indicated that she was close to a beach. The acoustic of the sound as well as the temperature of the place she was in allowed her to guess she was inside a structure made out of wood. Of course, the prevailing smell of wood in the air helped her to achieve that conclusion. The young girl continued listening a sudden movement of air and after a minute, she was satisfied that either she was alone in the place or the people in the room had remained immobile, probably sleeping.

Flay Allster opened her eyes slowly and cautiously, letting them get used to light. As she had suspected, she was indeed inside a room. Slowly, she looked around the place. From the plain looking bed sheet beneath her and the ornaments placed on the wall, she surmised that she was inside a civilian home. Then she got up and tiptoed inside the place, making sure that she wouldn't make any creaking sound walking on the wooden floor. Flay searched all around the room for something that she could use as a weapon. To her disappointment, she found none.

The door to the place opened and fueled by adrenaline, she launched herself toward the person who had just entered the room. She quickly adjusted her body movement to match with the newcomer's profile which was a young adult. She didn't need to think but her body already knew that she would apprehend the person and force him to tell her where she was.

The man managed to slide out of the way.

"_Coordinator"_ she thought but her body was adjusting itself to launch a roundhouse kick at the man.

The man raised his left hand to block the kick.

"_Not really well trained." _With her left leg still in the air after it was blocked by the man, Fllay jumped, folded the left leg and performed a snap kick using the right leg at the same spot. With the man's arm already touching his head, the kick imparted some of shock to his head. _"A civilian."_

As the man fumbled to the left, Fllay brought out her hands to land on the floor and then spun her body to stand up. _"I can defeat him!"_ she thought as her punch was already halfway toward his face.

Then there was a flash and she felt as if her brain was stabbed with millions of pins. She didn't even register the fact that her body crashed next to him as the pain began spreading all over her body.

* * *

"Ah, it seems that you're finally awake," a man asked with a pleasant voice.

Fllay opened her eyes, realizing the futility of pretending to be asleep. The enemy had caught on to her charade so there was no point in doing so. The first thing she saw was a man in priest cloak man standing next to her bed. "You know."

"Your breathing was becoming more frequent."

It was then she noticed that his eyes were closed. "You're blind," she stated flatly.

"Hopefully not in heart. I'm Malchio and the young man behind me is Kira."

Fllay spied the young man she had attacked a bit further. Did she saw a blush on his face? "Flay."

It was rather rude not to give the person her real name, not that it would matter much. As a Blue Cosmos member, she had no illusion that she would be treated lower than scum. She entered not because she would be saving the world but avenge her father's death on the hands of the Coordinator terrorists by killing every single one of them.

The priest gestured toward the man name Kira. "Kira found you on the beach and brought you here for treatment."

"Thank you," she said in a fake thankful manner.

"Um… you're welcome." Kira

"Well, then, Miss Flay, perhaps we can talk later." Reverent Malchio turned toward Kira, "Since I have something else to do, I'll leave our guest in your hands," he said before leaving the room.

Flay watched him leaving and only turned toward Kira after she was satisfied that the person was out of earshot. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked him, referring to her attack.

"Em… because it was an accident, I'm sure," the man who's about her age replied, smiling at her.

"I'm a Blue Cosmos," she said.

"Oh," the man said dejectedly. Then he brightened up a bit. "But I still believe that all people are inherently good in nature."

The naïve statement sickened her to the very core. How could anyone as stupid as him exist, she could never know. Besides, if human beings are inherently good, her father wouldn't have been killed, would he?.

"By the way, the mobile suit you piloted is awesome."

She got up only to fall back again due to pain racking her body. "Where is it?"

"I managed to move it to the hill nearby and hid it there."

Again, Fllay tried to get up and this time she succeeded. "I remember now. You're the one whom I told to destroy the mobile suit. Why didn't you do it?"

"But I didn't how to do it!" Kira protested. Sure enough, he had an idea on how to do it but he felt that it would be a waste to destroy something like that. "That's why I bring it here."

"Idiot!" the redhead spat. "You haven't realized the consequences of your action. Where are we right now?" she snapped, wincing a bit at the pain the action caused her.

"We're at the orphanage, in Marshall Island."

"Marshall Island?" Vague memories of what had happened assailed her. "No, I was supposed to wait there in Cairn! I must go back to the mobile suit!"

"But you're not in the position to move around!" Kira said as he put a hand to steady her.

"Shut up!" she said as she slapped away his hand. "I must get the prototype back or at the very least destroy it. Tell me where it is."

"I'll lead you there."

She growled in frustration. "Just tell me and I'll be on my way. You have put your life in danger already," she said as she swallowed the rising bile in her throat. Somehow, she could feel her perception distorting.

This time Kira put his hands on her firmly. "You need help to go there." When her body gave way, he held her up and put her on his shoulders. He then moved forward, passing some orphans with a few older ones whistling at his action while the younger children talking about him going to get the cooties.

* * *

It took a bit out of his stamina but Kira and his ward finally arrived at the mobile suit. While he stood by the entrance, watching her sitting on the cockpit's seat, he had some reservation in regards to his action. The woman clearly admitted that she was a Blue Cosmos and was piloting the mobile suit before she had crashed it at the island. Perhaps she was testing it for use against Coordinators?

"I've contacted the Alliance's ship that's supposed to pick me up and it's on its way here," Flay announced from her console.

"I'm glad for you."

"I hope they could get here as fast as possible. I can't pilot this, not in my state."

"You're keen to this machine to Alliance, aren't you?"

"Yes," she replied as she continued checking the systems around her.

"Do you really hate Coordinators that much to give your superiors a machine to kill them?"

She snapped toward him at the accusation. "Maybe I am an evil person but this machine was built by ZAFT," she pointed toward him, "your kind. Would you dare to claim that this would be used for a peaceful purpose, or in truth to kill more and more of Naturals?"

He didn't know what to say to counter that statement.

"Furthermore, I don't know what will happen to this," she hesitated to think of the mobile suit's name, "Spectrum. All I know is I must get this away from the island as soon as possible before…"

She was cut off as the whole place shook up. The tremor also caused Kira to be thrown inside and the cockpit's hatch close.

"Get off me," she growled as she pushed his face away from her chest.

"Sorry," Kira said as he retreated a bit.

"Go take the other seat," Flay commanded as she entered some commands to magnify something she saw flying toward them. It was already too late as a flight of ZAFT's mobile suits were coming toward them.

* * *

"It looks like Jerek is right in his report," Marco remarked to his wingmen. "Probably an Alliance prototype. Looks like it's a cigar room for him instead of cleaning the bathrooms using a toothbrush."

"Damn lucky break," Azyzy, one of his wingmen retorted. Being based on a submarine, it was downright taboo to smoke and to be given a room to smoke a cigar was considered a full privilege even by non-smokers.

"But the mobile suit seems different than the ones attacking the base," the other one commented.

"Well, you have a point there, Kim. We have to capture it or at least brings it head to the high command," Marco said, already thinking about a medal he could receive for the deed. After all, Marco Morassim was known to be a proactive person. A commander of Costeau, his own Vosgulov-class submarine, the seasoned veteran often entered battle, piloting his own flight-capable DINN, like he was presently doing, or naval based ZnO, depending on the situation.

"Should we give it a chance to surrender?" the first wingman asked.

"Sure," he said before licking his lips in anticipation, "but if it resists, it would be pretty interesting too."

* * *

"They're asking for our surrender," Kira said franticly from his seat as he reread again and again the message on his console.

"Ng? no… must move it a… away and self… destruct," Flay moaned from her seat.

Kira couldn't see her face but he could hear her heavy breathing. It was strange but she seemed fine a while ago. There was a small whirring sound and he found that his seat had rotated to the front, exchanging places with Flay. "What happened?"

"Move it away… set the… auto-destruct and go… out of the cockpit," the woman behind her said in a delirious manner.

"How about you?"

"Pandora…" Flay mumbled.

"Huh?" Kira asked as he pushed the controls, half-expecting the mobile suit not to control since Flay was the one on the pilot's seat. To his surprise the mobile began to move away from the hill. _"It probably had redundant control but it's rather weird."_

"**To the pilot of the unknown hostile mobile suit," **a voice announced through an open frequency. **"You are to stop and dismount the mobile suit or face the consequences." **

"What should we do, Flay?"

In response, the hatch opened slightly. "Get out…" she said, seemingly regaining her mind. "After you get down I will continue to move on."

"But what will happen to you?"

"Probably getting what I deserve. I'm a Blue Cosmos, after all." she said ruefully. "Now go!"

He only moved toward the hatch only to pull it close.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to leave you just like that!"

The three DINN began to fire their machineguns around the mobile suit as a warning.

"Can't you see that they mean business?"

"Well, yeah!" Kira said as he pushed the throttle forward and the mobile suit began to walk faster and faster. "I'm not going to let them get their way."

* * *

Marco's interest in the white mobile suit was increasing and increasing as he watched it breaking into a small jog. The frame's design was extremely advanced to allow it to move on land at a rather surprising speed. "Snipe down its legs!" he commanded.

"It's too fast!" his first wingmen said.

"And it changed vector easily!" the other remarked, surprise evident in his voice.

The commander had to agree that capturing it fully intact was unlikely. "Very well, if we can't take it then no one will! Destroy it!"

* * *

"You're moving in the wrong direction!" Flay said in alarm.

"What are you talking about? We're avoiding their attacks!"

"No! We're back toward your place!"

"What?!" he uttered before he realized that she was right. His mobile suit was only around a hundred meters away from the orphanage. The shock of what he had done had caused him to pause in panic.

"Move!" Flay shouted as she wrenched control of the mobile suit.

The mobile suit rolled to the side just as one of the DINNs performed a strafing run. As a result, the DINN missed it and accidentally hit the orphanage instead. The shots perforated the wooden building, causing massive damage to everything inside.

* * *

"YOU IDIOT!" Marco shouted at Azyzy who did the strafing run. "That's a civilian building!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect it to be able to evade the attack," the attacker apologized.

"Whatever. Just get the mobile suit and this time, don't fail." He was quite certain that the building was being inhabited and as a result of his man's idiocy, innocent civilians might be hurt. It would be rather problematic explaining the situation to ZAFT the collateral damages unless unmarked mobile suit could be captured intact.

* * *

"NO!" Kira screamed

"This is not the time to cry, Kira," Flay said coldly. "We must leave the area. You can pilot this thing better than me so get to it!"

"You!" he sputtered. "This is your fault!" he cried.

"Yes," she said resignedly even as the cockpit continued to shake from shots rained on it. "This is my fault, my sin. But now the situation has degenerated to this, I don't know whether we can just let them killed us," she continued. "Maybe…"

"No. I'll protect them…" Kira said softly as his eyes shone in determination. "I'll protect them."

**"_Warning, damages above acceptable level. Initiating forced Pandora Key synchronization with the main pilot." _**The onboard computer's metallic voice announced.

Kira didn't what the computer meant but suddenly he felt his senses being enhanced to a very level that he could perceive everything around him! But strangely he didn't feel himself being overwhelmed by the stark increase of perception.

**"_Initiating defense protocol. Selecting Phantasma Schwert as main weapon."_**

* * *

If he wasn't familiar with Phase Shift armor, Marco would have pegged the prototype as being equipped with one. However, the armor on the mobile suit he was attacking wasn't Phase Shift. Phase Shift armor would changed color but only in segmented block. The mobile suit didn't change its white color. However, glowing red trimmings began appearing all over it, lending an overwhelming aura to it. The head also reconfigured, revealing a face similar to those 'Gundams' stationed at Carpenteria.

When he saw it bringing out and activating its beam saber, he nearly choked on his saliva. ZAFT had just achieved a breakthrough on Beam Saber technology and installed it on the few of the Gundams but from the intensity of the beam, he could see that the beam saber on the white mobile suit was at least two generations ahead of the ones on the Gundams.

But Marco was a calm man, knowing very well that battles were not won on technology alone. He had the advantage of numbers and could play the waiting game with his team keeping their quarry busy, until reinforcement arrived from Costeau. "Azyzy, Kim, we'll pin it down until helps arrive."

While Kim acknowledged the order, Azyzy didn't. In just two seconds, the white mobile suit had jumped and slashed his mobile suit into two.

"Azyzy!" Kim cried out. It was a mistake on his part. The white mobile suit had turned toward him and quickly closed the distance before stabbing through cockpit.

Marco was the only one left after Azyzy's DINN crashed into the ocean while Kim's DINN exploded in the air over the island. Undeterred by his opponent, Marco fired his DINN's shotgun to push it away. It was apparent that the pilot was inexperienced and in despite losing his team, Marco was sure he could defeat it. When the white mobile suit reared back to perform a stabbing attack, he quickly seized the chance to kick it into the sea.

He smiled. The goddess of victory was smiling on him that day.

The assumption was proven wrong, however, when the radar warned him of incoming four hostile mobile suits, no doubt the white mobile suit's reinforcements. He could probably deal with one with two being a stretch. Four? It was better to retreat to fight another day. He looked at the beached mobile suit and cursed its pilot. Marco then engaged his DINN's full throttle to leave the area.

It wouldn't matter because he would prevail in the end.

* * *

**1**

* * *

**Author's note (28 March 2010)**

1. Still no ending in sight but at the very least I keep the story open rather than having perpetual cliffhangers just in case I couldn't continue.

2. Sure, some would like to point the similarities Spectrum and Gundam Unicorn. I'll be candid and admit GU did inspire me in some aspect. However, I would like to clarify some facts:

a. The white and red trimming isn't inspired by GU's Destroy Mode but came from my fiction Fallen Angel's ZGMF-X16S Fallen's trimming. Fallen had black body with red trimming all over it and the story mentioned about it as early as October 2005.

b. 'Pandora Vase' seems similar to Laplace Box. I neither knew about the existence of GU novels nor can I read Japanese. So I never knew that what I'm writing in Chapter 3 in Soaring Above (as early as August 2008) about Pandora Vase Pandora Box is similar to Laplace Box concept Vist Foundation is protecting.

c. Spectrum's non-Pandora mode is inspired by 'Grey Moth' in Soaring Above. Originally, I opted for the Grey Moth to be a Gundam but had its head covered by a 'mask'. Of course, in my original draft, Kira was supposed to be in normal UNITY military while Flay was part of UNGARD, along with Grey Moth. However, with Grey Moth already a transformable mobile suit, putting in another 'hidden' mode seemed to be a rather tall order. Besides, the story had clearly changed into a different path and the Flay's role changed from the one supporting Shinn from the shadow to his antagonist. Weird.

d. While Pandora mode seems like GU's NT-D, I actually followed Fallen's Vue Divine. Besides, NT-D is highly advanced as it allowed the pilot to control the mobile suit by his thoughts alone. What Pandora mode do (at least in this chapter) is transforming Kira into a temporary 'Newtype'.

e. Anyway, I would like to reuse the GM's mode again in this story and with Gundam Unicorn's transformation being awesome as it is, I don't think will mistake Spectrum's alternate mode as a copy of GU.

.


	3. Aftermath

"_Deactivating forced Pandora Key synchronization. Sub-operational Assault Mode has now reverted to Neutral. Damage to Pandora Key cannot be determined as of this moment."_

Kira felt his perception slowly returned to normal and lost awareness of everything around him save for those directly in his vision. Whatever it was he experienced, it was very short, lasting half a minute but to him it felt as if time had really stretched. The computer system had announced that it was unilaterally activating the Assault mode and had warned that the efficiency had been affected due to the state of the key. He didn't know what it meant but didn't have the time to think about it as he felt his view of the world changed.

He could sense, he corrected himself, he could _see _the mobile suit in the air behind him. When he felt that he needed to jump, the mobile suit was already going through the jumping motion and at the same time activating its boosters to support the motion. When he slashed the first mobile suit into two, he did so knowing very well that he was ending a human's life inside it and felt a sense of detachment of what happened; it was the same when he stabbed through the second one's cockpit. It was as if he didn't feel for the act of killing.

His left hand pushed the control and the mobile suit righted itself into a sitting position.

"_Wait," _he thought to himself, _"The orphanage!"_

"**Don't move and raise your hands to where we can see you," **a female voice said over the open channel. **"We saw what you did and I assure you that we wouldn't make the same mistake."**

"Can't you see that the orphanage is in ruin and I have to help?" Kira growled.

There was a lull of silence before the voice responded. **"We will assist the injured. But as a sign of honesty, you're to move your mobile suit to the shore and then disembark from it."**

Kira wondered whether he should cooperate with the newcomers or not but then an airborne carrier appeared over the horizon, he knew that he had no choice as more fighting could destroy the whole place. He did as he told.

* * *

Mwu watched as a squad of soldiers ran toward the orphanage with a team of medics following it. He then cocked his head toward the young brunette sitting on the sand with his hands on his head. "Mind telling me what happened?" he asked conversationally while gesturing toward the white mobile suit. "And what is your connection with the lady by your side?" He had met all kinds of soldiers to instantly know the person he was talking to was a civilian.

Kira gave a glance at the unconscious woman lying on a stretcher next to him. "I only know her name. As for Spectrum…"

"Spectrum?"

"The white mobile suit. Flay referred it as such and when the screen boots up, it displayed the acronym."

"Oh," Mwu uttered while filing away the information for later use, "so you were saying…"

"She brought it to this island and for what reason I don't really know. What I know is suddenly three mobile suits appeared and attack this place before you guys appeared."

"We'll have to wait for our sleeping beauty to wake up, wouldn't we?" Mwu said while at the same time trying to piece together some sort of an explanation why she did it. "So, I heard that you defeat two mobile suits by yourself."

Kira felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a dull knife as the full ramification of his action hit him hard. He had killed.

Mwu almost smacked his own forehead when he realized the mistake that he had made. He was a trained soldier and was emotionally conditioned to accept that in war, killing was inevitable. However, the young man was still innocent bystander who had the worst of luck to be involved in a battle. He mentally made a note to recommend him to visit the ship's resident psychiatrist. He then raised his hand to give a lazy salute at the newcomer. "At ease, Ensign Haww. No need to salute."

Mirrillia saluted nevertheless. "We've conducted the sweep and found no trace of enemy. Also, sonar dips reveal no nearby submarine."

"That's good. I wouldn't want us to be caught with our pants, er, skirt, um anyway, we don't want them to attack us." There was a high probability that the ZAFT attackers came from a single Vosgulov submarine or else the attackers would have been more numerous. With that taken into consideration, the probability of the submarine launching another aerial sortie was quite small since it would only have at most four more DINNs left; the pilot of escaped mobile suit would no doubt inform his or her superior the outcome of the battle as well as Mir's interference. Then, it was tactically sound for the ZAFT submarine captain _not_ to attack using its aerial mobile suits.

However, since the submarine wasn't detected in the nearby coastal area, the enemy wouldn't be coming soon. Of course, Vosgulov-class submarine could move at the speed of more than 50 knots but doing so would create a lot of noise that could probably be detected hundreds and hundreds of kilometers away. On the other hand, when the submarine could discretely get close enough to launch its underwater mobile suits, Archangel would have been long gone from the scene.

"So, who's the pilot of the white mobile suit with black trimmings?" Mirrillia asked. "Ours?"

Mwu pointed at Kira. "A civilian, though he's with the agent we're supposed to picked up." He then eyed the leader of the team sent to the orphanage shaking his head while signaling a '1' and then a '4'. Someone was dead and four were injured. He thumbed Archangel. "Mirrillia, take Kira to the ship. We'll evacuate everyone there temporarily."

* * *

The three of them watched silently the video recording showing Spectrum reverting to its cavalier appearance from its samurai-like mode.

"I still can't believe this kind othing just dropped into our lap from out of nowhere." Mwu remarked after the video ended. "Any idea on its propulsion, Doc?"

"Well," Murdoch stalled, "you probably wouldn't want to know."

"Try us," Murrue said, preparing for the worst. Since the ship should already been categorized as rogue by the Alliance or at least the North Atlantic Federation, having new bad news delivered probably wouldn't make that much a difference. "Let me guess, compact nuclear fission?"

"No, that I can be sure off. As for the generator I can't be sure since I'm just a mechanic instead of a physicist …," Murdoch sighed, "Probably ionic electric propulsion powered by deuterium-tritium muon-catalyzed fusion with the nominal power output rated at 12,825 kilowatt."

The other two shared a confused look.

"Muon-catalyzed fusion?" Mwu asked for confirmation.

The older man nodded.

"But even with the North Atlantic's current technology or even ZAFT for that matter, it was impossible to create that kind of power plant with acceptable output; even more so building a compact version of it!" Murrue exclaimed.

The man in front of her sniffed. "I did say that you probably wouldn't want to know. But the good news is, since the fusion occurs at slightly higher temperature than the room temperature and the generator fully shielded, there's a negligible risk of its exploding. On the negative side, everybody's going to want one. "

"Well, this is something," Mwu said. "A 17 meter cold-fusion mobile suit with the power of maglev train. What else it could do? Fly without a lifter module?"

Murdoch shrugged. "Sure."

"I was being sarcastic."

"And I'm not." Murdoch insisted, "Even without wings, which in this case is pointless since it's not aerodynamic, the mobile suit can moved at a speed comparable to Guul."

Mwu turned Murrue to see that she was frowning. It wasn't often that one would be burdened with the command of a ragtag ship listed as destroy on sight by its own force and to make the matter worse, came into the custody of a portable weapons of mass destruction whose technology, if revealed, would cause everyone to try and capture it.

"Any other info?" Murrue asked.

"I chatted with that brunette kid and he said that the OS sucks ball but the core is fully encrypted."

"Suck balls?" Mwu interrupted, clearly amused by the statement.

"The 'balls' is something I added up."

"Oh, I guessed as much."

Murdoch rubbed his chin. "That reminds me; the strange OS aside, I noticed that the power sockets on it are fully compatible with Alliance's and ZAFT. It's as if the creators wanted it to be able to use any weapons from both factions with minimal modifications. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it can also use Orb's. But there's some mountings on the body that suggests it also its own weapons apart from the default beam saber and beam CIWS. We're currently doing a patch job involving Spitfires' modules we have lying around."

"You're the light of the sunshine as always, Doc," Mwu said in before turning toward the commander of the ship. "So, should we go to Orb, as instructed by Halberton?"

"I'm not sure," Murrue said rather darkly.

From the recording, she and Mwu finally found out the real reason why she was promoted to Colonel. Admiral Halberton had found out that the anti-Coordinator supporters were infiltrating the ranks of Atlantic Federation military force that it would be a matter of time before even PIXIE program would be compromised. Hence, at the great risk to his own safety, the admiral planned the PIXIEs to attack the ZAFT base to achieve multitudes of objectives but the most important one was to give a chance for the PIXIEs to 'disappear' under the pretext of them being killed in the attack. There was no sure way for the Alliance to confirm that since ZAFT surely wouldn't cooperate.

Since Archangel and its crew had been declared as dead, it was to make its way to the neutral country of Orb where Halberton had negotiated with the Lion of Orb to grant asylum to the ship's crew in return for the ship and its complement of mobile suits to be surrendered to the country. Even if later on Archangel whereabouts was discovered, the country could always claim that it found the ship sunken in its water. Should the faction that found out, be it ZAFT or Alliance, press for the ship to be surrendered to it, the other would surely intervene, basically ending in a 'zero-sum' game where both factions would lose out in the end. However, the existence of the white mobile suit had drastically changed the whole dynamics.

Mwu who seemed to know what she was thinking suggested, "Why don't we say that it's a 'buy one free one'?"

"We might as well mention the fact that the free one is a technically nuclear mobile suit but it's okay since it's not against the anti-profileration treaty," Murdoch remarked, shooting down the suggestion.

The young colonel sighed, knowing that she would really hate the decision that she would make. "We'll proceed with the plan as well as bring the orphans onboard." Before Murdoch could say anything, she continued, "I know you don't like it and to be frank, I don't like it as well. However, the weather report we got indicated that a storm is coming here in two days time and I don't think their place could withstand it."

"Besides, the blind caretaker of the place is dead and the shortwave radio basically busted so there's no calling for help," Mwu added. "I support the captain's decision since there's another thing we have to consider which is that we have no idea about what is really happening and I'm not really in the mood to trust everyone." Gone unsaid but was understood by the two listeners that there was a chance that their pursuers would be resort to anything in order to maintain the secrecy of matter that the lives of few neglected orphans would cease to matter.

Murdoch put hands on his hips. "If you say so, Murrue. I'll get to converting three bunks into a single quarter for all of them, including the young brunette."

"Since we're on the subject of the brunette what are we going to do with the Yamato person?" Mwu asked.

Murrue shrugged. "Later on. What I know is tonight, you'll be in command while I lock myself inside the room, get myself drunk and when the morning comes, hopefully I will wake up on my bed at my home in Washington Alabama realizing that all of this is just a scary nightmare."

Mwu had turned away to hide the ironic smile forming on his face. Murrue avoided alcohol like the proverbial mother-in-law so if she's going to drink herself silly, the stress must be getting to her. "Aye, aye, ma'am."

* * *

Even though she had seen Earth from her home in PLANTs countless of times Lacus Clyne, the daughter of the prominent PLANT politician Siegel Clyne, still let herself be awed by the beauty of the planet. Sure, PLANTs were beautiful as well with everything well taken-care off but there was the overwhelming sense of sterility not present on the planet itself. Yes, she admitted to herself as she peered through one the orbital transporter's windows that she was on, the sight of it was simply breathtaking.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a masculine voice next to her asked rhetorically.

"Yes," she admitted as she turned toward the man, "I know I'm carrying a heavy responsibility with me but I can't help feeling happy to return to Earth, Mr. Wartfeld."

Andrew Wartfeld's eyebrows furrowed a bit. "I thought I asked you to call me Andy, Lady Lacus."

"And I asked you to call me by name. "

The man smiled. "You got me there." He would never call the young Siegel heiress without any honorific so he couldn't expect her to be informal with him as well; it was a lost cause trying to argue with her.

"Since you wish for it, I'll call you by your first name."

"Thank you very much. By the way, I'm here to tell you that we'll be reentering the atmosphere in twenty minutes time so the heat curtains would cover the windows soon."

"Thank you," she said before she continued to watch the looming planet. "You know, even though I had returned to Earth dozens of times, I can't help feeling envious of the people there," she lamented. "They are very lucky to be able to see animals in their natural habitats instead of observing them in zoos."

Andrew could barely hold himself from rolling his eyes at the statement. The people on Earth were in fact responsible for destroying the animals' habitats and driving them into extinction but he didn't have the heart to point out to her. Lady Lacus was far from being naïve; it was just that she held an optimist view of everyone. That was why her father sent her in his stead for the current mission.

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Andy…"

The man wanted to groan. She still used honorific with his name. "Yes?"

"Do you like Tarzan very much?"

"Um, I guess so," he replied. Ever since he met her in person a year prior, he noticed that she had a very soft spot for animals.

"Oh," Lacus said while nodding her head. "Now I understand."

"May I ask what do you understand?"

"Well, Tarzan had a pet lion that lived with him in the jungle of the Africa. However, lions generally live in prairies savannas and grasslands in Africa and India. Even if a lion may move toward denser vegetation, the vegetation is at best can be considered as a dense forest rather than a jungle in tropical rainforest. The saying about lion being the king of the jungle is a misnomer."

"And…?"

"You are known as 'The Tiger of Desert'. That is also a misnomer similar to the one in Tarzan since there's no tiger living in desert."

Andrew didn't know how to respond to the statement. Actually, he didn't even know when he got the nickname; all he knew was that it was given to him by his enemies after he won a battle in the African desert at the early outset of war. He simply accepted the nickname because he thought that the name was given due to his mobile suit's stripe markings. Besides, the name bore resemblance to Desert Fox, the nickname of a famous Field Marshall that lived before Cosmic Era.

However, when he thought about what Lady Lacus had said, she was right since there are foxes living in deserts but there's no such thing as desert tigers. Mountains, yes but definitely not desert. That led him to the unsavory realization that the name was intended to be derogatory rather than being a sign of respect, implying that he wasn't supposed to be in the African Desert or being a Coordinator wasn't supposed to be on Earth and he was quite stupid for not realizing that until Lady Lacus pointed out that fact to him. "Well, maybe you would like to suggest a name change? Maybe Piranha of Africa?"

"There are no piranhas in Africa."

Andrew blinked. Then he blinked again.

"**Be advised." **The shuttle's intercom blared to life. **"We have two meteors passing by on our starboard's side."**

"Why don't you make a wish, Lady Clyne?" Andrew asked, grateful for a chance to change the conversation topic to one less embarrassing.

Lacus shook her head while she looked . It wasn't because she didn't believe in making a wish but she couldn't help feeling that ominous sensation when the two passed by. It was as if that they were signs of upcoming storm, rather than messengers of hope hopes.

Meanwhile, in a hidden colony not far from PLANTs, Gilbert had a small tight smile on his lips as he watched the two objects began to glow as it entered Earth. The unexpected activation of Spectrum had necessitated the hastening of the plan but the man couldn't be more pleased. The Destiny Plan would achieve its objective.

"Sir?" a male voice prompted.

Gilbert turned toward the person who called out to him, noting that the speaker was quite young to be involved in such a plan. "Yes?"

"Should we inform Mr. Burrel regarding the two parts we sent to Earth?"

"No," he replied. "It's best that Rey doesn't find out until the time comes."

* * *

"You're lying!" Yzak growled while slamming the meeting table.

"_So much for being subtle and not standing out," _Dearka thought to himself as he watched the man ranting to the submariner who got onboard Minerva to deliver the report of the battle in Marshall Island to Captain Talia.

"Yzak!" Athrun admonished when he noticed that Talia didn't say anything but instead had a thoughtful look on her.

The pilot of Buster personally felt that Athrun's action was rather pointless. Yzak humiliation at the hand of the Earth Alliance pilot had changed the man somehow. Granted, he took down two of the pilot's wing mates before he himself was injured but the man could really hold a grudge. He glanced at Nicol Amarfi. The green-haired pilot was clearly worried, judging from the frown on his face.

"Actually, Joules, I would be happy if it's a lie." Marco said before playing the video of the fight between him and the white mobile suit. After the recording had ended, he turned toward everyone. "So one thing I want to ask: is that thing ours?"

"Not that I'm aware off," Talia replied, half distracted. "But that said, if we really have such mobile suit, it would be a secret of the highest order. Even if I ask, the higher ups will deny its existence."

"I'm sorry for talking out of turn," Nicol interjected, "but aren't we looking it at a wrong perspective?"

Everyone gave him a questioning look.

"Well, we don't know it's ours or Alliance's, but we do know that the Alliance probably have it right now. Since we wouldn't know about its origin, why don't we focus on our next step?"

"Capture or destroy?" Marco offered helpfully since Talia outranked him. However that didn't mean that he was planning to share the glory with her.

Talia acquiesced to the suggestion. "Until new order comes countermanding it, we'll go along with the plan. We'll start as soon as Costeau's replacement mobile suits arrive. But I would prefer we capture it, along with the legged Alliance ship if possible."

"We're to capture the white ship?" Yzak questioned.

"Like I say, if possible. Somehow I feel that there's a lot that we don't know regarding the current situation. Take that ship for example. The design is quite similar to Minerva. And now we have a rogue mobile which may be designed based on the five prototypes."

"Why don't we confirm with the headquarters?" Dearka asked.

"It would take too much time," Marco replied for Talia. Even though ZAFT didn't deploy N-Jammers as planned, both sides had resorted to saturating Earth and its surrounding space with signal jamming, allowing only unencrypted signals from neutral entities such as Deep Space Survey & Development Organization which, apart from researching beyond the orbit of Mars for the purpose of development, also operated several orbital satellites. While the technology to circumvent the signal jamming already existed, it was a moot point since the technology to decrypt any message that could be sent through radio transmission existed as well. Hence, long range communication was to be avoided unless in the state of emergency.

"I really don't like it," Talia continued where the man left, "but I'll be exercising my authority for this joint operation."

"As a FAITH," Yzak added.

"As a FAITH," she agreed.

Athrun didn't like the explanation. It wasn't because he was a stickler for the rules and regulations but because of too many unknown variables in the operation; for him to go into a battle unprepared is to go into it fully prepared to lose. However, there was no denying the fact that the white mobile suit and the legged ship would pose threats to ZAFT.

He ruefully noted that he had gone astray from being a pacifist and supporter of peace, a childish and naive pledge he shared with his childhood friend. Yes, in the beginning he joined ZAFT in hope of freeing his mother who was trapped in Junius Eleven when it and the neigbouring colony were captured by the Alliance. Yes, he joined it knowing very well that he must kill. Yet, there was a small part of him questioning what he was doing. Despite ZAFT numerous victories, his mother, along with other inhabitants of the two colonies remained as hostages in two gigantic holding blocks floating in space. From news provided by the humanitarian agencies sanctioned by the Alliance to provide aids to the colonies, he found out that they were safe but were totally isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world.

"Athrun?"

Talia's voice brought him out of his private thoughts. Everyone's eyes were on him, waiting. "Yes?"

"Anything you want to add to the discussion?"

He shook his head.

"Very well, we'll proceed with our plan."

Athrun mentally sighed. At the very least his childhood friend would remain untarnished by the war unlike him.

* * *

He had killed someone.

No, he had killed two people, Kira thought to himself as he sat on a stool, staring bleakly at the orphans occupying themselves around the hastily modified dorm, with beds being set on one part and the other part being their recreational area, with a rather large television set recently installed on one of the walls with two computers nearby. If he was in any mood to think about the setting, he would have concluded that the place was very comfortable, given that they were inside a military ship. But comfortable it was, it was no haven from which he could escape his guilt.

He held out his hands in front of his face, gazing at it forlornly.

"Did you wash them carefully?" Rebecca, a six year old girl who lost her parents and brother when a mobile armour crashed into her house in Sydney asked while curiously peering at his hands. "I think that they are clean."

Despite himself, Kira smiled. "Yeah."

"You must remember to clean them after eating, 'kay?" she said before one of the boys came to get her. Apparently, Kira was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the main door to the room opened and someone entered women entered.

That someone brought some cartoons and animes for the children to watch, which was why the room suddenly became quiet as they became transfixed to the display screen. "Do you have some time, Yamato?" the person said, a girl around his age, asked him as she stood in front him.

He nodded recognizing the girl as Ensign Haww, one of the pilots of the Alliance's mobile suits.

"Good. Follow me," she gestured toward the door.

The young Coordinator stood up and it was then he noticed that there was another girl sitting with the children, watching the shows along with them. What struck him as odd was that she wore frilly maid suit along with faux tail and cat ears. While the setup did make her look cute, it also made him to think her as eccentric and odd. A cosplayer walking along the Akihabara district in Japan was a rather common occurrence but on a military ship? That was… he didn't know what to think of it.

"Stellar is rather special," Ensign Haww said, as if knowing what he was thinking. "Come on. I'll explain about it, at least the part that isn't classified or top secret. In return, I would like to ask you some questions."

He nodded, even though he knew the girl couldn't see his action as she was walking in front of him.

She raised a hand half way to greet a technician they passed. "By the way, my name's Mirrillia and since it's a bit long to pronounce, you can just call me Mir."

"Kira."

"Kira. I'll come straight to the point. We know that you're an accomplished programmer and we would like you to finish the system program for the white mobile suit."

"Spectrum?"

"Yeah, that one, if that's what you call it."

"Why do you think I'll help in the programming a weapon like that?" He wanted to mention about them using it to kill more and more people but stopped short of doing so.

Nevertheless, the hidden message got to Mir. "Because you don't have a choice." Before Kira could make a remark, she continued, "Don't misunderstand me. If you don't cooperate, we wouldn't force you but I want you to know that we intend to go to Orb through a long detour to prevent detection. But there's still a chance that we will be attacked, either by ZAFT or Alliance. That's why we need every mobile suit onboard the ship to help us go through this ordeal. We need as many help as we can to survive."

"Why do you want to go to Orb? Besides, why the Alliance want to attack you?"

"Because we have been declared as rogue," Mir answered as if the comment would explain everything just like that. "That's why we're going to Orb to surrender and seek asylum."

"Why are you telling me this? It's not one of these mind games, isn't it?"

The girl sighed. "No. We talk about it and decide that the only way we convince you is to come clean with the whole thing. Sure, we still keep some things secret but that's the gist of it."

"I have to admit that I find the reason a bit too simple and convenient. But sometimes the truth is just that, simple and convenient."

"Oh…" Kira said absently, not really caring about the answer in the first place. What he really wanted to know was that what did the girl in front of him thought about killing other people. Didn't she feel guilt about taking other people's life? Perhaps instead of feeling guilty, she actually enjoyed it? Or maybe she really abhorred having to kill. If that was the case, how did she deal with it?

"You should know that we attacked ZAFT's base few days before we got to the island." Mir said as they entered the hangar.

"Will what you did end the war faster?"

Mir was saved from answering his question when someone called out to them.

"Kira. Kira Yamato?" a man called out even as he jogged toward the two of them.

Kira looked at him with shock. "Tolle?"

"In person," the two of them hugged a bit.

The Coordinator noticed that his friend moved to a spot quiet near Mir. "Um… This may seem weird since we just met after a long time and all, but aren't you…," he gestured toward Tolle and then heavenward, "that person, you know, Heliopolis?"

It took quite some time for his friend to connect the dots together, given the vague description. "What are you talking about?" Tolle pointed toward Mir. "She's the one I mentioned to you," he said while putting a hand on Mir's shoulder. "You know, chest-nut haired beauty with exuberant personality that a guy is willing to die for?"

"You always flatter me," Mir said while punching him bashfully. She then turned toward Kira. "When I saw you at the beach, I instantly recognized you and your name but I had to check with Tolle first."

The three of them chatted and reminisced their past for quite some time.

* * *

Before Mwu could say anything, the redhead girl who was sitting near a table held up a hand. "Judging from your fierce expression, I think you're about to use the 'bad cop and good cop' tactic. If that's the case, please stop because it will waste our time." Her eyes clouded a bit. "I've been subjected to water boarding in order to build resistance to interrogation and recently… there's only one thing left that held me together and it was the only thing that continually reinforced my humanity and hope."

"Well, this is awkward…" Mwu said, realizing that the girl was never the one whiny rich princess that he and Murrue made out to be but instead someone who had go through a lot. He pressed the intercom near him. "As you can hear from her, it's not going to work."

A minute later, Murrue entered the room and the two of them sat in front of the girl.

"Halberton's handpicked cherries," the red-head commented. "As soon as I saw him I knew wouldn't be far behind."

"Flay Allster," the colonel said while slamming her palms on the table, "You will cooperate with us."

"Sure, as long as I get to walk around the ship afterwards instead of being confined inside a room."

Mwu and Murrue shared a look. "What did you say?"

"I said that I will cooperate for that benefit. Look, I know that Halberton send you to intercept me so that Blue Cosmos wouldn't get what I found. Thus, it's possible that you're going rogue, with this ship being hunted by both sides. Am I right so far?"

Flay didn't need any verbal answer. "Simple conclusion, since the admiral himself is being marked even by the upper echelons."

"You know that?" Murrue asked.

"Everybody knows that, just like everyone knows how 'similar' Siegel and Zala political ideologies are."

"Now you want to know what really happen and where this white mobile suit came into picture."

"Spectrum," Mwu added helpfully.

Flay told them about her being implanted as a civilian logistic officer in one of the cities near Carpenteria with the order to feed Alliance' intelligence with information pertaining to the cities' logistics. That in turn would allow the military planners to figure out Carpenteria's own logistics, especially those pertaining to supplies from Ocenia. However, she was approached to join one of ZAFT's research centers. She accepted it despite the order not to issued by her handler, reasoning that if she didn't she would be acting rather suspiciously for someone who was supposed to be loyal to ZAFT. It was during that mission she learned about the new prototype ZAFT was developing.

In return, Murrue told her that she was unconscious for six days before waking up to which she remarked that no wonder her body field as heavy as lead.

"So back to Spectrum. After finding out about its existence, your bosses put together a plan to steal it," Mwu asked.

"Actually, I'm the one who called them to reveal the existence of such nuclear mobile suit to the world and asked them to do something."

"And hoped that this will trigger a full-scale nuclear holocaust?" Murrue questioned, displeasure evident.

"I was doing my job, regardless of the consequence but since you put it that way, then, yes. But other people did the same thing as well to prolong the war."

Murrue withdrew as the statement's impact was a bit too much for her. While Flay probably didn't know that Archangel had attacked Carpenteria base, her statement was quite on the mark since Archangel also carried out the job because it was its duty.

"As for my statement earlier, in case you doubt my motive, please know that I have no choice but to cooperate with you."

Mwu leaned forward. "Oh? And why is that?"

"You betrayed North Alliance and you picked me up. So what that makes me in the eyes of my superiors?"

"A traitor as well," Murrue said quietly. "Anything that you'll claim wouldn't be accepted by Blue Cosmos. The military would probably take a more objective view of your situation but you're not part of the military."

"Despite being trained and subsequently being granted a license to pilot a combat mobile suit."

"Hold on a minute," Mwu said. "You can pilot a mobile suit."

"ZAFT's. Haven't saw Alliance's until you brought me in."

"That didn't explain the blood test we got from you."

"That simply proves how little you people know despite risking your lives in this war; I at least know more." Flay stood up and walked to the door, stopping as it opened. "For your information, the leaders of Blue Cosmos didn't really care whether we're fighting against Coordinators or among ourselves."

"How do you know about that?"

"I thought you already know about my father being one of the members. That should explain a bit. Also, for your information, even without us doing anything, eventually Coordinators would disappear."

"What?" Murrue said, almost standing up. "What are your superiors planning?"

"Planning?" Fllay scoffed. "Those idiots couldn't even plan their way to a convention centre without their drivers. But that's okay because eventually, it would be Coordinators who will kill themselves. See you soon."

"Wait! Who said that you can leave?"

"You know where I stay, _Colonel_, since you're the one who assigned me to it so if you will excuse me,"

Mwu stared at the girl leaving the room and then at Murrue. "Strange. She's different from the description that Yamato kid gave."

The woman next to him sat. "Even if it shouldn't be possible since she's only a young field agent, that girl knows something that we don't."

He put a reassuring hand on hers. "But as she said, she's in the same ship as us."

Murrue giggled tiredly, not making any effort to remove his hand. "You really know how to make a person's day."

* * *

Kira spied the attractive redhead standing at the observation bridge and slowly made his way to her.

She didn't comment when he positioned himself next to her.

The two stood together, watching a flight of seagulls flying in the direction of what seemed to be the mainland. After few minutes, it was Kira who broke the silence. "Why did you bring Spectrum to the island?"

"Fate?" she tested. "So that I can see meet you, perhaps?"

"You're just saying whatever you want."

"I guess." Flay didn't know why but she seemed to sense some foreign emotions in her

"Do you know that I was asked to reprogram the mobile suit and optimize the operating system of the other prototypes?"

"I see. And you agreed to it?"

"I've no choice. Even if there's no pressure, the reason why the orphans are onboard is because of me and that's before I found out that one of my friend is working onboard this ship." Kira said as his whole body tensed with his hands gripping the railing as if he was about to yank it off.

She gazed at him. "You blamed yourself because of what happened."

"Of course! Father Malchio and few others died because of that mobile suit, and I put there, even though you asked me to destroy it."

"Kira, it's not your fault," Flay said as she had a soft expression on her face.

The young man didn't notice the expression because he was busy looking forward, wallowing in his self contempt. "You told me but I didn't listen. But instead I found it cool and…"

"Look at me!"

Kira did as he was told and was rewarded with a hard slap to his face. He put a hand on the stinging place tentatively.

Flay held his face so that they could see eye-to-eye. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It's just a bad accident," she cooed.

"But they still died," Kira said before losing control of his emotions.

The redhead pulled him toward gently.

In response, Kira enveloped her in an embrace and buried his face on her shoulder.

As he cried and cried for the life lost, Flay continued to hold him reassuringly. "It's not your fault, Kira," she cooed. She closed her eyes as she arrived to a decision. "Everything that happened is my fault… and you're not at fault. So, just blame me for everything. Protect me, Kira, and in return, I'll protect you from those unwanted emotions."

Kira's embraced tightened as he continued to cry in the arms of someone he barely knew.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (25 April 2010)**

1. Still chugging along, which is something, I guess. Ideas pertaining to the background of the story is still forming but yet there's no ending.

2. The chapter's a bit heavy on the introduction side but that's because there's some marked difference in regards to the whole storyline. Unlike the canon, many events have changed and thus proper explanation had to be put in there.

3. Yes, being not sure myself, there's no apparent pairings as of yet, well, excluding Mwu and Murrue.


	4. The fight between an angel and a goddess

It was an exquisite feeling, the feeling of pleasure mixed with guilt, Kira realized as his hand hovered over it. It had far long transcended the most dreaded moment in his childhood his mother caught him with his hand in the cookie jar; such time could never compare with the one he was experiencing at the moment. It wasn't his first time but yet he got flustered just by thinking about it.

"It's okay," Flay whispered. "Just get it over with."

He swallowed a lump in his throat. He could still recall his moment spent in her arms crying about what he had done two days prior and he still couldn't believe that she was such a tender person. Of course, he harbored a crush on her when they met but to be progressing to such a stage was something unexpected. Besides, he didn't really know her that well yet. "Are you sure?"

"Really. Please do it."

"But… are you okay."

"As long as it's you, I'm fine."

His hand trembled at the proclamation. Kira closed his eyes. "Well, if you insist," he said as he finally decided to follow through his action.

A man growled. "Damn you, Yamato."

There was a buzzing button and Kira's world was bathed in electric light. He opened his eyes and was met with the annoyed expression Murdoch. "Murdoch?"

"No, I'm co-star in your upcoming adult video," the man said sarcastically. "Why can't you just press the damn button? It wasn't that difficult!"

"Sorry," Kira said sheepishly amidst audio diagnostic message being announced in the cockpit.

"Geez. You're just switching on the OS to test the connection between Spectrum and the additional parts, not press the button to doomsday."

Kira shrunk when he heard giggles from the seat behind him as well as laughter from below the mobile suit. The bastard Tolle was supposed to be on his side but the man dared to laugh at his expense! It wasn't his fault that he had trepidation switching on the mobile suit after helping to reconfigure the weapon acquisition and engagement sub-module. Yes, it made him proud and boosted his ego at being able to do what he did, but at the same time, there was a lingering feeling of guilt as he had basically helped to make the mobile suit kill more efficiently.

"Just ignore, him, Kira." Flay said as she scroll through one of the popup screens on 360 degrees three-dimensional monitor the two were sharing. "I think you may want to optimized the arms power output."

"I didn't realize that you're quite in the know in the mobile suit, Missy," Murdoch said with a tint of suspicion.

"I know a bit; that's how I stole this."

The other man nodded but shrugged. Despite what Murrue said, he still had a suspicion that the girl was a Coordinator judging from her interaction with everything.

"That's because few people realize that not all alleles responsible for desirable traits are dominant. With some of them really being recessive, the offspring of both a Coordinator and a Natural will have a good chance of being a Natural," Kira mumbled as he tinkered with controls to check the subroutines he had modified. He then stopped and wore an expression of surprise. "Huh? Who made that comment just now?"

Murdoch stared at him as if he had two heads. "No. Missy and I didn't say anything." He looked outside toward Tolle and Mir. "And they also didn't say anything."

"Strange. I could swear it was…" Kira fidgeted under the other man's stare. "Um… can we pretend that nothing transpired just now?"

"The hell I can! You're going to see the shrink right after this to determine whether you should be wearing one of those nice white jackets."

As Kira was preoccupied with Murdoch doubting his sanity, he missed seeing a frown on Flay's face.

* * *

She was staring intently on the screen in front of her, manipulating the trackball to change the viewpoint. Then a hand holding a drink canister appeared on her left.

"Here you are, decaff with one sachets of sugar and three sachets of creamer,"

The woman turned to smile gratuitously at the owner of the hand before taking the cup and putting it on the console. "Thanks, sis."

"Well, someone has to keep you well-fed, Meyrin."

"And I have to thank you for electing yourself to fill that position. There's an opening for someone to clean and press my uniforms…"

In response, she got a playful smack on her back.

"So, what are you looking at?" her sister said while leaning by her side to have a better look at the screen.

Meyrin had to suppress a twinge of jealousy as she glanced at her sister; it was apparent who was more endowed among the siblings. Lunamaria, older than her by only a year had already blossomed into a jealousy-invoking woman whereas she could still pay children's ticket price to watch movies or enter amusement parks just by pretending to be one; there was no need to hack into the purchasing system to do so.

However, as they said, grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Lunamaria had confided in her few times that she wished she had half of Meyrin's abilities. Also, even the attractiveness had its own disadvantages. Meyrin had heard, and had even witnessed how some men and women approached her sister for a quick whack job because they thought her sister was a bimbo who would spread her legs for everyone. Sure, fitting into the stereotypical 'nerd', Meyrin found herself attracting people similar to her but at least they were after long term commitment.

The younger sister smiled. Despite the petty jealousy between the two of them, they really loved each other. "It's the feed from one of our UAVs," she said, entering a few commands so that the feeds from the unmanned aerial vehicle would display some other information. "This particular one was modified by Athrun Zala himself so the range is extended by additional 50 kilometers and the loitering window by one hour. And it was given to me to _use_."

Loving one's sibling doesn't mean there would be no rivalry so she wasn't above using any ammunition at her disposal.

"Well, at least he's building something useful, unlike your weird-looking ball rolling around the cafeteria, saying 'Haro, Haro'. You can take some lesson from him," Lunamaria huffed.

"Actually, it's his work as well."

Meyrin wished she had a camera to capture the expression of her sister at that time. The closest description she could come up with to describe it was it reminded her of her pet goldfish.

"You're kidding!" her sister uttered, finally coming out with a response.

"Don't worry Miss Lunamaria Hawke_,_ my silence can be bought for the price of two supreme chocolate fudge," Meyrin said in a conspiring manner. "Add another one and I'll even add in some good words about you complimenting his work." Of course, the younger sister barely knew the man himself. Even the work carried out on the UAV was carried by Athrun without her being involved; she only used the modified drone.

"Damn you, you little twerp," Lunamaria said while choking her sister.

"Ughh… the price just went up to four," Meyrin said while holding her sister's hands.

Suddenly Lunamaria's hold loosened.

"You agreed to four?"

Lunamaria's hands moved but only to turn Meyrin's face back to the screen. "That."

* * *

"There," Talia said while pointing to the map of Southeast Asia. "There's two ways that I can think of. Since Archangel is spotted near Java Sea, either it will escape by passing through Sumatra and then into the open ocean… or," she pointed at the Borneo island, "it will pass through the Makassar Strait and then into Celebes Sea."

Nicol raised his hand. "Assuming the ship will pass through the strait, wouldn't it be risky since the pirate activities there is quite a hassle even for our merchants?"

"Yes, that is correct if the ship _isn't_ a warship. Even if any foolish pirate was lucky enough to get close without being blown to kingdom come, there's no exposed deck so there's no easy entry."

Yzak leaned back a bit and crossed his arms, "I'm sorry for not following the discussion but why are we talking as if the ship's captain would suddenly go northeast instead of west as said by Marco? I still say we should have blockaded Sumatra to prevent it from escaping into Indian Ocean."

"It's not in my nature to take other people's glory," Talia said, smiling. "It was his suggestion in the first place so it's not really fair for me to seize it, isn't it?"

"But you're a FAITH," Dearka added his own thought. "Wouldn't it be all right for you to assume command?"

"Not when it didn't fit in with my strategic conclusion."

Suddenly the map disappeared from the screen and was replaced with Meyrin's face.

"Yes?" Talia asked her.

"**Sorry for disturbing you, Ma'am but we have found the 'Trojan Horse' as forecasted in Sector Beta."**

"Good. Your sister's with you?"

"**Yes."**

"Send her here. Meanwhile, begin the phase A of the operation: Spear of Laocoön."

"**Understood,"** Meyrin said as she signed off.

Talia turned to look at the rest of the people inside the room. "For those who don't know yet, that's our Synchronized Combat and Control Strategy officer, or SCCS."

"Success?" Dearka suggested. "Even the acronym seems a bit mouthful."

The FAITH shrugged. "That seems a good idea. In case you're thinking that this is run-of-the-mill CIC officer, I would like to correct that misconception"

Talia then explained why Minerva had a SCCS officer, admitting that ZAFT's military doctrine allowed more freedom to its pilots to take initiatives in battles. However, she pointed out, the different tactics employed by each pilot while fighting as well as gung-ho and elitist attitudes being adopted by few caused the military think tanks to reconsider doctrine. She then pointed out the painful fact that the 'Gundam' team lost one of its prototypes to the Alliance attack despite having better equipments and better pilots was due to the latter's superior well-formulated and well-coordinated tactic.

"Please don't mistake my words as referring to genetics," she said, "but I want to prove to the 'Trojan Horse' that we're superior than its force." Talia pointedly looked at Yzak. "I want 'us' to avenge what happened that day, not 'I'." It was a slightly subtle but still strongly worded 'either you're with me or you're against me' statement.

"I understand. After all, as long as we win against them, it's the same as avenging Rusty and myself, so I'll listen to you."

"Good," Talia said while nodding her head.

Yzak may be strong-headed but he wasn't stupid. He understood very well that someone who couldn't follow orders in a battle was a menace to his comrades. True, he gave his word to follow her orders but at the same time the promoise left him plenty of rooms for his own initiatives and he knew Talia realized that; he also knew that she didn't say anything because it was a small concession for him and he appreciated that.

She then addressed everyone else. "Now I will explain to all of your about phase B of the operation: Spear of Laocoön."

History being a favorite subject with Nicol, he could see the irony of their current situation. When Greek used the Trojan Horse tactic on Trojan, a priest named Laocoön had warned his Trojan kinsmen against bringing in the horse inside the castle and had thrown a spear at the wooden in anger when his warning went unheeded. However, Talia description of the plan left him feeling his team was the Greeks and the Alliance ship was the Trojans.

* * *

The klaxon sirens blared all over the ship as personnel ran toward their respective station. Murrue didn't even have time to check whether her uniform was buttoned properly; she was sleeping when the alarm went off and only sheer habit prevented her from arriving at the bridge in her polka dot pajamas. "Situation, Abby?" she asked the cute blonde CIC operator who was furiously tapping commands into her console.

"Four airborne hostiles just entering the long radar range, heat pattern match those of the prototypes."

"Shit. Where's Mwu?"

"**Someone called for the hero to save the day?" **

Murrue felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach upon hearing his voice. "You heard what Abby said?"

"**Crystal. Murdoch is currently prepping the Skygrasper for me and as for the girls, they're boarding their mobile suits."**

"Good. The four are probably using Guuls so their mobility would be limited compared to Spitfire but in return, they can last longer." She turned toward Abby. "Is the mothership or any other ship in radar range?"

"No."

"At least the prototypes operating within predictable time frame before they have to return back." Murrue turned toward Mwu. "We have to play for time until they run out of power."

"**No problem, I guess."**

"I thought making the impossible possible is your forte?" she said in a teasing manner.

"**I'm still working on one,"** he said mischievously, **"so it will take away some energy from this."**

Murrue rolled her eyes. "Just get back here."

"**Got it."**

**

* * *

**

"At least she's telling you to get back so it's a progress," Mirrillia quipped as she went through her mobile suit's startup diagnostic.

"**Really? To me she's just telling me to buzz off."** Mwu replied over the communication feed.

"Men," Mir said, clearly exasperated. "Couldn't you see the signs? Geez, I thought that you're a ladies' man."

The blonde pilot smirked. "I never bothered to correct that perception because it made me popular with the guys, you know, and the girls see me as a nice catch." He then turned serious. "Spitfires?"

Mir checked the computer. Asagi Caldwell, Stellar Lousier, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt and herself; all that remained of the PIXIE program which at the heydays of its operation, boasted a full wing consisting of few mobile armour squadrons. However, Halberton, whose vision gave birth to it had many political enemies; greedy generals who feared that his plan would be successful and cause them to lose clouts and influence. Even before it carried out its first mission, the wing was broken and dismantled under the excuse of other theatres needing experienced pilots. In the end, only her squadron remained for the mission.

There were five remaining and the number could only reduce. Although she was facing such an odd, Mir would still do her best to return to the man who had just finished installing her mobile suit's weapons. As if knowing that he was the focus of her thought, Tolle turned in her direction and smiled. Mir smiled back and waved even though she knew that he couldn't see her inside the cockpit.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be," she said to Mwu.

"**Good. I wished there's someone who could pilot Spectrum though. We need all the firepower we have for the upcoming skirmish. Well, the two of **_**them **_**could but we can't really force them to do so."**

Yes, one of them was a spy and the other a civilian belonging to a neutral country; hardly prime candidates to pilot the white prototype. Despite that, they were the best choice since Mir herself has yet to master the controls. Her boyfriend's buddy had improved the operating system to the extent that it could be used by a Coordinator adequately but she still had to practice controlling it and doing so in a battlefield was a 'no-no'.

* * *

Kira pulled his blanket high up to cover his head to cover his head as he tried his best to go to sleep; the siren was for the military, not a displayed civilian like him. He really hated the war as it had caused immeasurable suffering on everyone.

The blanket was pulled away and he eyed the person who did it. "Flay?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked neutrally.

"Isn't this where I'm supposed to be?"

"Are you sure?"

"The children had already been evacuated but I don't think I have to join them."

Flay gazed at him. "Are you sure this is the place to be?"

"Where else?"

She waved toward the ceiling. "To the battlefield."

He stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "Why?"

"To fight."

He got up but only to put his hands on her shoulders. Why couldn't the woman in front of him understand the consequence of her actions? War resulted in hate which in turn would fuel the war, leading to a never-ending circle that would be result in deaths and more deaths. "Don't."

She gazed into his eyes for an explanation for the statement.

"This ship's soldiers would defend everyone so you don't have to sully your hands."

"What would happen if they fail?"

He didn't dare answer her.

"But…"

She put her hands on his chest and pushed slowly but firmly. "Even though you broke your promise, I understand. It's okay." Flay then walked toward the door.

"Hey, what are you…"

The redhead exited the room and Kira found himself following her. Eventually they arrived at the dressing room where she quickly changed into flight suit, ignoring Kira who looked away when she was down to only her lingerie. After she had fully dressed, she turned Kira. "Why are you still here?"

"Why do you want to fight so much? You can't even handle the mobile suit properly!"

"You're right…" She said while staring at the floor.

Perhaps it was the way she looked vulnerable or how downcast her expression was but one thing Kira was sure was that he really wanted to hold her in his arms.

The CIC's voice echoed in the room, announcing the first launch of the ship's defenders.

Flay looked up and went toward a nearby communication pack. "Mr. Murdoch, please equip Spectrum with Interceptor Pack. I'll be there shortly."

The man frowned. **"Huh? Who the hell do you think you are, thinking that we'll even allow you launch? Colonel's more likely to throw you inside the brig then allow you to do it."**

"Oh?" she questioned while smiling. "You don't trust me?"

* * *

One by one Spitfires lined up in a flight formation behind Mwu's Skygrasper. He reduced the throttle a bit to make it easier for them to keep in formation. "Okay, guy…er people, the game plan's pretty simple: since there's no enemy mothership around, all we need to do is to prevent ZAFT from attacking Archangel and once their battery's finished, they have to return back and we'll have grilled steak for dinner."

"Somehow I lost my motivation to fight," Juri quipped.

Mir's giggle echoed through the communication network.

"I told you," Asagi interrupted, "they just cut the some tractor's tires and then served us, claiming they're steaks."

"The unfortunate thing is we're back on Earth. When we're at space, it was easy to pretend that it was delicious since we can't really taste it." Mayura said. Due to the lack of gravity in space fluid often buildup in sinuses, leading to the change of taste similar to eating a food while having flu; one could eat an onion and mistake its taste with apple's.

"Stellar like chicken," the former Extended pilot said thoughtfully.

"Ouch." Mwu's efforts to motivate them have backfired spectacularly. "Well, let's beat the stuffing out of them and just return to the ship. When we get to Orb, I'll spring for a dinner for all of you."

"All right!" Asagi, Juri and Mayura chorused. Even though the chance of Mwu delivering on the promise was abysmally small, the gesture was very much appreciated.

"Don't forget our colonel," Mir said.

"Of course not," Mwu replied.

"Chicken, chicken, chicken," Stellar hummed happily, seemingly oblivious to the current situation.

"Let's go!" Mwu said as he open fire on the attackers.

* * *

The battle had begun only thirty seconds ago but Athrun could already see why Captain Talia gave them leeway in choosing their own mobile suits rather than telling them to pilot their respective mobile suit. However, no one took that offer. How foolish of them. All four of them should have learned the lesson from the first encounter with the Alliance units but they didn't. With the five prototypes really designed for use in space, their aerial mobility were severely lacking with the exception of Strike which could mount an Aile Striker that allowed it to fly. However, that must be the reason why the enemy immediately singled it out for destruction.

One of the units had strayed into the crosshair and he pressed a trigger. Even though his reaction was fast, the mobile suit was already leaving the crosshair section by the time the trigger contact transferred order to the firing computer. The beam shot fired missed by a wide margin.

Yzak, Nicol, Dearka and he versus five mobile suits and a fighter: the odds would have been considered as unfair were they to fight in space.

There was a warning tone and Athrun swerved out of the way. The fighter was trying to attack his Guul unit, a rather good tactic since the carrier presented a larger and better target.

Yzak's short burst of exclamation also revealed that similar situations were happening with other prototypes.

Already, Athrun could see a pattern with the enemy's attacks. The enemy would try to get underneath the Guul whose section there was only lightly armored while at the same time preventing retaliation by the Guul's rider. A counterattack could be launched by 'stomping' the mobile suit underneath but Athrun wasn't willing to risk finding out that the enemy would take advantage of the attack; the counterattack could potentially lead to the loss of the Guul unit, leaving the mobile suit extremely vulnerable.

"Looks like it's going to be a repeat of that day…" Dearka said as Buster turned on its torso to track its opponent.

"Shut up!" Yzak shouted, clearly angered by the insinuation that they would lose again to the Alliance. "We're the redcoats! We can't lose to them!"

"Red coats don't mean squat if they ran around our mobile suits in circles."

* * *

"Captain, Phase G and H had completed according to schedule." Meyrin announced from her console.

"How about Athrun's team?" Talia asked.

"Still engaging the enemy with the probability of prolonged engagement lasting beyond the duration of the plan."

"I suspected as much." The captain took a deep breath. "Very well. Do it."

* * *

"**Sis, it's a go, I repeat, it's a go."**

"Thanks." Inside her AMEF-SEAD01 DINN, Lunamaria gingerly maneuvered the reticule on the main screen so that it would superimpose with a structure on the 'Trojan Horse'. As she did so, her custom-paint DINN moved its recoilless rifle a bit even as it remained hovering in the air. The older sister of the Hawke family made it as redcoat due to her specialty. While she could certainly held up in mobile suit, she was one of the few pilots tasked for suppressing enemy's air defense.

Luna pressed the trigger and her DINN shook a little bit as high-kinetic tungsten alloy left the rifle. Two second later, the shot hit its mark. "Target hit."

She didn't have time to rejoice as the cockpit computer warned her about her mobile suit being 'painted' by radar, meaning that what she hit was not a radar module. It was rather hard to skim the sea to make her way to the ship in order but the tactic had allowed her to remain undetected by flying beneath its radar detection angel. With the shot, the enemy had wised up to the tactic and there was a probability that she could expect a radar-guided anti-air missile soon.

However, while she had failed to take out the radar, that was also taken into the consideration in the overall tactics. Her DINN turned in the air to fire four anti-radiation missiles at the ship and then turned to engage an interceptor missile with her CIWS. "Phase I-2 has been initiated," she reported amidst the explosion of the missile.

"**Jam the Trojan Horse's CIWS's IR." **

"Okay." She then activated the system and her DINN directed several burst of laser at the CIWS's forward looking infrared sensors. Luna then noticed that the radar was no longer operational. The enemy had switched off the radar in order to prevent detection from the anti-radiation missile; the move with combined with the jamming of CIWS would ensure a higher probability of it surviving the attacks. "Radar had been switched off."

"**Roger. Continue with Phase I-2-1"**

Unfortunately for the Alliance, that was what her sister anticipated. "Fire away, sis."

* * *

Four drones made their way to Archangel, each one carrying four guided missiles. Like Lunamaria's DINN, they also avoided detection by sea skimming though at a much slower speed. While that was a disadvantage, Meyrin easily compensated for that by launching them much earlier. Besides, while they were slow, they also had very long loitering time and their plastic bodies made them more difficult to detect.

Meyrin pressed the launched button and two seconds later the drones fired their missiles.

The missiles came into life and fired their propulsion engines while their sensors heads chased at the targets being illuminated by her sister's DINN which were the CIWS. They weren't after the radar in the first place but instead to destroy the ship's air defense. Drawing from ZAFT's own CIWS design, she knew that the interception system worked by radar, infrared and automatic image processing. With radar being turned off and the infrared being jammed only automatic image processing was operational.

Four of the missiles struck their target, leaving the portside of the Trojan Horse vulnerable to attack.

"First secondary objective have been eliminated," she reported to Talia.

* * *

"Archangel had been hit!" Asagi uttered at the sight.

However, her concern was her undoing when Buster slammed into her Spitfire, before firing its weapon at point blank.

She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid fatal damage but her mobile suit's glide system had been damaged and she found herself crashing to the sea below.

* * *

Dearka watched as the enemy mobile suit managed to slow down before reaching the sea, increasing the likelihood of its pilot's survival. Whoever the pilot was, she was fortunate because its destruction wasn't a priority in his list.

"My opponent had been shot down," he reported.

"Proceed to attack Trojan Horse," Athrun commanded. "Remember the plan."

"Roger!" Buster swooped toward Archangel, the latter's defenders were helpless to stop it as they were engrossed in their own fights.

* * *

"Seconds wave in position in ten seconds," Meyrin announced as her hands fiddled with the controls. This time, there would be no CIWS stopping the missiles they carried, unlike the first wave.

"Prepare to fire," Talia said in reply. "It should be able to withstand the second volley so we'll give them the chance to surrender or risk the third wave."

"**Minerva, I'm detecting the white mobile suit exiting through the aft catapult." **Lunamaria announced.

The feed from Meyrin's own observer drone confirmed what her sister saw a second later. "Captain?"

"How far is the third wave?"

"Twenty five seconds?"

"What is the white mobile suit doing?"

"Guarding." Meyrin answered even though that reply wasn't needed as Talia's tone indicated that she already realized the possibility.

"Launch both waves simultaneously."

"Captain?" the SCCS specialist asked. Attacking the ship with so many missiles would mean its destruction.

"Someone had said to prepare for the worst while hopping for the best," Talia answered. "As it is, I'm willing to settle with a scuttled ship rather than have it run away."

* * *

"Incoming missiles!" Flay announced. "Forty eight of them."

"There's too many of them!" Kira uttered as he shot down the first one. Even though Spectrum was equipped with weapons and armors from surplus Spitfire modules, the add-ons worked perfectly, he noted to his chagrin.

"Leave the navigation and automatic target acquisition to me; just concentrate on firing at them.

In the end, he joined her in defending Archangel, despite his misgivings. Yes, he hated wars but Flay had touched on a very painful subject when she mentioned the importance of protecting the children. It was due to his fault that they became homeless and lost their caretaker; he couldn't help but be responsible to ensure their safety until the ship arrived at ORB.

Flay was correct in predicting that Colonel Ramius would allow them to sortie. Granted, she was very reluctant to allow the two of them to join the fight but she had no choice when the enemy managed to destroy the Archangel's air defense. Flay was right, the ship was in danger and he had no choice in the matter but to fight.

"Fire the missiles!" his redhead copilot said even as he destroyed the tenth missile.

"Okay!" He would not let every single missile hit Archangel.

Spectrum's bolted-on attachments popped open, and its own missiles streamed, searching for the targets they have been assigned to. There were many explosions doting the place as the missiles hit each other; they were almost instantaneously followed by secondary explosions due to other missiles being caught inside the earlier explosions.

The interception had destroyed more than three-quarter of ZAFT missiles but the remainders still soldiered on.

"Flay!" Kira called out.

"Understood!"

Spectrum jumped and landed at the ship's portside, still firing its beam rifles. One by one the missiles were shot down until last one finally exploded a few meters away from the white mobile suit. The resulting force caused Spectrum to be slammed into the ship's wall with so much force that it left a dent.

While Spectrum's gyroscopic cockpit had redirected most of the impulse away, it still left Kira a bit dazed. "Are you okay, Flay?" he asked gingerly while ignoring the coppery taste in his mouth; he had accidentally bit his lips during the collision.

"Yeah, I guess."

* * *

Lunamaria stared at the destruction, not willing to believe what happened. The carefully planned strategy her sister had put together had been disrupted by a single mobile suit! That was unforgivable! The reconnaissance specialist quickly targeted the white mobile suit with its long range linear rifle and fired a shot.

She had expected the mobile suit to either block or evade the shot so was taken by surprise when it destroy the shot with one of its beam rifle. "Shit. I'm not going to lose to that no-face white jackass!" Lunamaria's DINN brought out its melee blade and dashed toward Archangel.

"**Sis!"** Meyrin called out in alarm.

"I'll teach him a lesson for destroying your plan," the older said, ignoring the younger one's plead.

With the nearby CIWS units taken out, she only had to focus on beating down the no-face.

The first slash met with air as the no-face evaded just in time. But Lunamaria continued on the offensive, using the other hand to shoot at the sea in front of the enemy, causing water to spray at it.

The tactic was successful and the pilot was distracted enough for her to destroy both of the white mobile suit's beam rifles.

"I got you know!" Lunamaria gloated as her DINN moved in for the kill. Without the beam rifles, her enemy was a sitting duck.

She saw a flash and engaged the airbrakes just in time to escape from being cut into two. The blade the her mobile suit didn't share the same fate; it was quickly rendered by the enemy's weapon.

"Beam saber," the ZAFT pilot hissed.

The white mobile suit began its counterattack and Lunamaria found herself being pushed back. She fought back, firing the DINN's rifle again and again. Her attempts were in vain, however as the enemy easily sidestepped the shots. Once it was close enough, it destroyed the rifle's barrel and Lunamaria was forced to jettison the rifle.

She had to retreat, she realized.

Her realization came a little as the white mobile suit activated another beam saber right after the first one destroyed the rifle; nothing could stop it from killing her.

Lunamaria saw her whole life flashed before her.

* * *

"**Stop right there, Earthlings," **a man's voice echoed and Spectrum's beam sword stopped a scant meter away from penetrating the enemy's cockpit.

It was a trap, the pilots inside the mobile suit realized. The enemy mobile suit it was facing didn't attack Arcangel erratically because the enemy pilot was frustrated due to the previous missile attack failing to destroy Archangel but instead to draw away all attention from another mobile suit.

The gambit was successful and everyone in Archangel's bridge was being held hostage by the latter.

"**Move and your ship is going to get it."**

Kira let out a relieve breath as the first enemy mobile suit left the area. He almost killed again.

A small window popped up on the main display, showing a ZAFT redcoat pilot. **"Deactivate both beam sabers."**

"Do it," Flay told him as a small window appeared showing a green mobile suit right in front or Archangel with its long weapon aimed at the bridge.

Another window popped up, showing the ZAFT pilot. Kira had to wonder how the enemy could communicate with them even though he's on the opposing side.

"He's broadcasting through open channel," Flay said.

With the statement answering his question, Kira opened the communication link. "This is..." he stopped to recall the name of the name mobile suit... wait, was he supposed to introduce his faction? Spectrum of Archangel perhaps? Then again wasn't it wrong to make an introduction since he was a civilian and the ZAFT pilot was expecting a military officer? Why was he recalling the formula to calculate the intensity of helium-cadmium laser?

"Let me answer it."

He nodded.

Flay switched the communication to her. "We hear you loud and clear. What do you want?"

"**We're going to negotiate with your boss so remain where you are and don't try anything funny. "**

The redhead nodded in compliance and was about to contact Archangel when Murrue's face turned up on another small popup screen.

"**I'm Murrue Ramius of Archangel,"**.

* * *

"Establish a link with the ship," Talia ordered Meyrin._ 'So the ship's name is Archangel,'_ she mused to herself. _'A rather ironic name'_

"Done."

She tipped her captain's head down a bit as the person named Murrue changed expression. "I'm Talia Gladys, captain of the ship that is undergoing military operation against your ship right now." It was a lengthy and roundabout way of saying that her ship was behind the attack but the captain wanted to see what kind of person the commander of the Trojan Horse was.

"**I'm listening."**

Talia let a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. That Ramius went straight to the point, a trait that she could learn to like and hate at the same time. She eyed the aerial dogfights still waging on amidst the communication; both sides would continue fighting until an agreement had been reached. "I'll be blunt. As accordance with the accepted military convention, we demand your unconditional surrender."

"**How can we trust you?"**

"I give my word as a FAITH member."

* * *

"Surrender?" Kira tried to think clearly about the implication of the statement. "Does that mean we don't have to fight?"

"Yes," Flay answered, typing into her console. "But is that what you really want?"

"We don't have any choice, do we? After all, their mobile suit is aiming its weapon at the bridge and we can't do anything about it without risking everyone's life."

"You're right, I guess…"

"See? It's just like I said…"

"I wonder what will happen if ZAFT gets its hand on our mobile suit," Flay continued, interrupting Kira's words.

"Huh?"

"Of course, looking at a positive side, ZAFT could probably end the war faster, but with something like this in their arsenal, I don't dare think about what Alliance would do as a response."

"But we don't know what will happen!"

"Of course, we don't know…" her voice became deathly neutral, "just like you don't know what will happen when you didn't destroy this mobile suit when you had the chance."

Kira growled silently in pain as his mind was assailed with images of the battle at Marshall Island.

* * *

"Would you allow us to destroy our white mobile suit prototype if we surrender?" Murrue asked as she tapped some text with the small keyboard on right hand rest.

"**I'm afraid that is not permissible. You will also surrender the prototype to us."**

"I see," Murrue said while smiling a bit. The answer didn't tell much but it did reveal the ZAFT's captain not really knowing the mobile suit belonged to her faction. It looked like the decision was taken out of her hand after all. "Then," she slowly raised her hand as if wanting to say something but instead snapped her fingers.

* * *

An explosion took Dearka by surprise. He quickly searched for the source of the explosion and saw smoke coming out of the section above the ship's starboard mobile suit hangar. A zoomed up image showed the section had some sort of weapon, judging from the wreckage.

It would have been the last thing he saw if not for the warning system prompting him to evade a beam saber stab. He cursed himself for the lapse in attention to surrounding.

Before he could formulate a counteraction, the whole cockpit jarred as Buster was being rammed by what seemed to be the enemy mobile suit. Instinctively, he kicked it away.

After he had regained his bearing, he discovered that the attacker was the white mobile suit which had reconfigured into the form he had seen from the video. However, it sported blue trimmings. The other thing he noticed was that it was hovering in the air with only its propulsion. Also, it stood there, as if waiting for him to make his move.

Dearka risked a look at the place where the explosion occurred. From the look of it, the damage was rather well-contained, except… It struck him. There was no other mobile suits nearby except Buster and the white mobile suit. The explosion occurred at an angle which caused him to look away from both the bridge and the white mobile suit. Rather than trying to ascertain what happened, the white mobile suit's pilot immediately took advantage of the situation, gaining precious one second in the process. All of these led to a single answer.

The enemy deliberately set off the explosion on their own ship.

He had to chuckle at his enemy's insanity.

* * *

"Retreat?" Athrun couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"**Yes. Retreat." **Talia confirmed.

"**Why?" **Yzak interrupted, being polite but at the same time a bit spiteful.

"**Right now the battle has become one of attrition. If the enemy managed to hold its own in another ten minutes, then the enemy would have gained advantage against you."**

"Ten minutes?" Athrun looked at his power gauge. Aegis's power was more than quarter full. But while his mobile suit could probably last another half an hour, the Guul's power was a different matter. He had to take into account the power requirement to return back to Minerva. In ten minutes, his unit would have not enough power to make it back.

"**Understood." **Yzak apparently realized the same thing. **"We'll get them next time."**

"**Of course." **Talia said.**  
**

Athrun retreated from his opponent while launching the signal flare._**'**__Kira, I wonder what you would think of me if you find out what I'm doing right now."_

At the same time, the said person was slumping in his pilot seat as he watched the last of ZAFT mobile suits left the place. _'Athrun, I'm sorry.'_

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (11 May 2010)**

1. In my opinion N-Jammer (NJ) doesn't interrupt with electronics in the same way as Minowski Particle (MP) does. Note that the MP disrupts disrupt low-frequency electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves and radio waves as well as electronic circuitry. This causes precision missiles to be quite useless, leading to mobile suits warfare in the UC era. However, in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny, you can see a lot of scenes where they shoot missiles such as the scene where Lacus went to space and the attack on the Heaven's base. In the first case, the missiles should have been guided ones or otherwise, it would easy for Andrew to evade. In the battle at the heaven base, LOGOS would have deployed artillery instead of rockets since it would very cheaper to do so, thus allowing it to deploy more of the defensive units.

2. Since the director did say that GS was quite close to the real world, so why not a UAV ambush? I'm not whether I'm the first to write about such tactic in Gundam SEED, but I have to say writing about it was quite an experience for me. So, both Luna and Meyrin are part of the CnC team but playing different roles.

3. In case some of you wondering, no, Kira didn't know that Athrun was there in the group.


	5. The impure and grey world

_She ran around the park, trying to locate the emerald-green artificial bird his new friend gave him. As she continued on as fast as her lithe body allowed him, she mentally cringed at the fact that she had lost it the day after he received it. Athrun would be so angry that he wouldn't be friend with her anymore!_

_The brown haired boy stopped near a bench where a man and a woman were pressing their lips together. Ignoring that whatever they were doing was icky and gross, she ventured a question. "Excuse me, sir, ma'am. Did you see Birdy fly by?"_

_The couple broke up with the man's face looking as if he swallowed a very sour candy but the woman looked at her with a very big smile on her face. "How cute!" the woman said in high pitch. "Look, darling, what a cute boy," she said as she messed with her hair._

_Something was definitely wrong but she wasn't sure what._

_"Someday, we will have a cute child like him, baby," the man said while gazing into the woman's eyes. "I hope the child will have your eyes."_

_"Oh darling, I love you very much!" the woman said as the two of them hugged and began kissing again, forgetting the question the boy asked._

_The girl sighed and was about to move away when he noticed a wallet near his feet. Picking it up, he checked the contents. There was some money and photograph of an unknown woman. She gently tugged the man's coat._

_The man ignored her._

_She tugged again._

_Then she tugged again._

_The man finally broke off from the kiss and turned toward her with the similar expression he had moments ago. "What is it, kid?"_

_The girl held the wallet in her hand. "Do you see the person who dropped this wallet?"_

_The man's expression changed into one of recognition. "That's mine."_

_She held the wallet defensively. "How do I know it's yours?"_

_"Look, kiddo, that's wallet belongs to me." The man gestured toward his lover. "Ask my girlfriend if you don't believe me."_

_"It's his," the woman confirmed._

_"Okay," She said as she handed the wallet back to the man. "My mom reminds me not to be rude, ma'am but your face is really different from your picture in the wallet. Have a nice day," she said as she resumed her jog, not realizing that her innocent observation would cause the couple's steamy and cozy relationship to quickly heat up to a boiling point. She was far away to hear the sound of the woman sapping the man and shouting that she didn't want to see the two-timing bastard forever._

_All that mattered at her that time was she had Birdy to find._

_After half an hour of searching and asking, she finally saw the green mechanical bird just beyond a bush. Silently, she crept closer and closer toward his target, willing it not to move around. When he was quite near enough he jumped at it with open arm._

_Only to collide with something._

_"Owie…" a girlish voice said as she wondered what happened. Slowly, she got up from her prone position only to see a pink-haired girl was beneath him. Quickly she scrambled away before any cootie germ from the girl could get on him._

_"Sorry." It was a polite thing to do to apologize to a girl she had collided with even though she was most probably full of those icky cooties germ._

_Strange. Why did she think that the girl had cooties germ?_

_"Why did you hit me?" the unknown girl asked while looking at her somewhat accusingly with her narrowed sapphire blue eyes._

_The expression on 'Pinky' would have been convincing if not for the fact that a mechanical bird was on top of her head, cocking its head as if agreeing with what she had said; Pinky ended up looking very cute rather than angry._

_However, she was quite troubled with the Pinky's accusation to notice it. "I'm not!" she protested while pointing to Birdy that had somehow remained perched on top of the girl's head despite the tumble she took. "I was searching for Birdy!"_

_Pinky-haired-girl-who's-full-of-cooties-germ looked up to where she was pointing and sure enough the bird remained out of her viewpoint. She looked at her accusingly and as if following her gesture, the bird cocked its head as well. "It's not nice to lie. Liar, liar, your pants on fire."_

_Cooties was probably the reason why Pinky was being annoying as well._

_The girl groaned. "Look, just put your hand on your head and you will find that there's something on it."_

_Despite shooting her with a look of disbelief, Pinky did as she was told and was surprised when Birdy hopped into her hand. She slowly lowered her hand to marvel at it. "Hey, you're right. I didn't know that it was on my hand. Maybe it landed when I was sleeping near a tree just now."_

_"Maybe it's because it thinks that your head is its nest."_

_"You're mean!" Pinky huffed._

_Startled by Pinky's proclamation, she held up her hand. "I'm saying that it likes you because you make it feel safe. It's not like it's because your hair is long or looks like a nest."_

_The pink-haired girl giggled at her explanation. "You're funny." She said while handing her the green mechanical bird._

_"Thanks," she said as he received the bird only to have it fly and landed back on the girl's head. "Traitor," she scoffed._

_"Now, now, don't get angry," Pinky said in a placating manner. "If you get angry, it would want to be friend with you." Pinky gently took the bird and then put it on her head. This time, it didn't move away and instead made a chirping sound. "See? It's saying your head is more like a nest compared to my hair."_

_"Liar."_

_Pinky giggled again and suddenly she seemed quite cute even though she had cooties. Pinky held out her hand. "I'm Lacus,"_

"Flay! Are you all right?"

Flay blinked as what she perceived faded away, revealing that she was inside Spectrum's cockpit. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said slowly.

"You scared me for a while just now when you didn't answer my question."

"Sorry. I'm a bit out of it." She took a deep breath. "I'm a bit tired so can you take over the control?"

"Huh? Er, sure."

As she slowly relinquished the mobile suit to him, Flay let herself slump into her seat. She wasn't lying when she said that she was tired as the machine was quite taxing on her physiology. It was probably due the fact that she was a mongrel, as her Blue Cosmos handler had called her; erasing him for trying to abscond with their cell's monetary resources was something she did so enthusiastically.

"Now, just relax and let me handle it," Kira said as he kept Spectrum hovering. Murrue had asked the mobile suit to keep guard until other mobile suits and Mwu's fighter had landed on Archangel.

"Thanks." She was silent for a moment. "Just wondering, Kira, I heard that you said to your friend that wars can be averted if people really understand each other."

"Yeah. Take Tolle for example. He accepted me for what I am."

As the first Spitfire began its landing sequence, Kira told Flay about his stay in Heliopolis three years before the war broke out. His family stayed at the orbiting colony as his father was made a branch manager there by the company where he worked. It was there that he went to school with Tolle. Apparently Mirriallia went to the same school as well even though he couldn't recall her that much since they weren't close at that time.

"When did you get your pet bird?" she asked.

"Birdy? Well, that's was around ten years ago. It was a gift from a close friend whom I haven't seen for five years. You know, sometimes I wish I can meet him."

"Will he accept you as well?"

"Athrun understood me very well. Both of us, we want, we yearn for peace. It's like I said, as long as people understand each other, there will be no war."

Despite losing his innocence, Kira was still naïve. It was a hard decision but Flay decided against revealing the identity of their attackers with the hope that Kira would never find out that it was his best friend who led the attack. Being an agent, she had access to some classified information including the identities of the Redcoats. Despite being the sons of prominent ZAFT politicians, they were kept secret to prevent an all-out assassination attempt that would have deal a severe blow to ZAFT's Gundam program as well its political stability.

She knew that she wasn't a good person but she didn't have the heart to tell him. Instead, she would just let Kira found out the cold hard reality by himself.

Flay closed her eyes. She was lying to herself once again. She was jealous of his childhood. Her own childhood of one that is loneliness as her mother was busy with her own work. It had changed when her father came to get her and despite his public mask, accepted her as his own daughter. It was with him that she learned the joy of being a child.

It was very short period, but one that had cast her fate.

* * *

The debriefing was strangely uneventful, with all pilots were in somber mood, since they had failed to defeat the Alliance's Trojan Horse or, as revealed by the previous battle Archangel. The so-called elite Red Coats, along with their highly advanced prototypes had failed for the second time to defeat their enemy and even though Dearka had incapacitated one of the hostile mobile suits, the blonde pilot candidly admitted it was a fluke, not a display of skill befitting of his status.

As for Talia, she really didn't care to bring their moral up since she believed that they could improve themselves by eating some humble pie now and then. After the debriefing had ended, she let everyone off except Lunamaria whom she told to stay. After two were alone, she began her address to the DINN pilot with a steely look. "Miss Lunamaria Hawke."

"Yes, ma'am." The cherry-haired pilot looked down on her feet. She was dreading the moment but there was no escaping what she had coming for her.

"A reprimand will be in order your gross misconduct in the previous mission."

"Understood." There wasn't anything else that she could say, was there?

The door to the briefing room opened; the next thing Luna knew she was reeling from a well-placed slap on her face and ended up on the floor. She nursed her stinging cheek while looking up.

Meyrin held her hand, trembling. "Sis, you're an idiot…"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" the younger sister screamed before dropping down to the floor and began to cry.

Meanwhile Talia locked the door so that it could only be opened from inside and stood silently while watching the Lunamaria tried to console her crying sister. Normal military procedure wouldn't allow siblings to be placed together to prevent complications such as one that was currently taking place but then again, despite the structure, ZAFT wasn't really a normal military outfit either.

While what Lunamaria did during the battle was tactically correct and had salvaged what should be a defeat to Minerva, her action was at best suicidal. However, Talia was willing to let Meyrin do the reprimanding and simply kept quiet until the two of them had settled down before continuing what she wanted to do. She gestured toward the empty seats. "Sit down." After the two of them took their respective place, she looked at Meyrin with her hand making a circular motion.

"None." the young SCCS officer answered.

Confused by what transpired, Lunamaria looked at her younger sister. Surprisingly enough, Meyrin didn't say anything and remained stoic-faced; it was rare for the younger sister to do so and Lunamaria knew very well not to press for an answer at such times. Reluctantly, she moved her gaze to her superior, begging for an answer to her unasked question.

Talia shrugged. "I'm giving Lunamaria the clearance as well, since she has to be properly instructed."

"Oh," Meyrin chirped before smiling at her sister. "I was tasked with ensuring that this room is clean."

"Clean, as in 'that' clean?"

"Yes." Talia answered. "To make thing short, I asked her to ensure that the room is clear of any electronics. I'm going to ask the two of you some questions, awkward questions and then gives you some instructions that you must follow to the letter. Do you understand?"

The two siblings nodded, understanding the weight that was about to be dropped on their shoulders.

The door suddenly opened, surprising the three of them and Athrun stormed inside. He quietly fixed a stare on each one of the room's occupants and then locked the door again. After he had locked the door, he remained in the position, as if thinking about something. "The mobile suit is nuclear powered, isn't it?" he asked. "And it's ours."

"What are you talking about?" Talia asked despite frowning at the question.

"Unlike others, I normally do my own maintenance on Aegis which is why I'm surprised when I was told by the technicians just now that you gave them the order to delay the maintenance routine."

"So? That's normal procedure. I don't get where this is leading to, Zala. I didn't think that a Redcoat would mind us doing the macabre work."

He turned to look at her. "It's not normal because I carried out Aegis' maintenance since getting onboard and not once I was stopped. Regardless, I was about to dismiss the whole thing until I found out that," he gestured toward Meyrin, "you have summoned her here immediately after a battle. You didn't include her during the debriefing so it is something you don't want the rest to hear. Given the timing, it is something important you want her to do."

"And what is that?"

"You want her to check through our black boxes, particularly Miss Hawke's DINN and Dearka's Buster since the two of them were close enough to the enemy mobile suit that the sensors would have picked something up. From there, I knew that something must have been big, so I'm guessing 'that something' is the white mobile suit's power generation."

"I don't understand," Lunamaria interrupted. "How do we know the mobile suit is nuclear powered? Besides, even if it is nuclear powered, isn't it advantageous for us since Alliance is breaking the treaty?"

Meyrin looked at Talia who motioned her to answer the question. "One of the drones picked detected that it released a high concentration of Helium along with other ions."

"And Helium is a byproduct of fusion," Athrun added. "And I'm making a guess that Miss Hawke's drone also determined that the propulsion technology being used is also similar to those powering our ships?"

"Wow." Lunamaria said in awe.

"This is why you call the two of them here, to get the information regarding this, isn't it, Captain Talia?"

Talia had to admit that she was impressed with the way Athrun managed to figure everything out. However, he was a bit off with his assumption. When she saw the mobile suit in action she already realized that it had to be nuclear-powered since there was no way for a battery-powered mobile suit to produce such a constantly high output of propulsion for a long time.

She also didn't need Meyrin to confirm the fact the mobile suit was probably theirs in the first place. If it was Alliance's in the first place, such a powerful mobile suit would have been deployed during the attack on ZAFT's base. Also, it played a defensive role in the previous battle instead of the offensive role as it should assume. Any commander worth his or her salt would have utilized its superior firepower to end the battle as soon as possible. Using a defensive tactic would only be used if the enemy wasn't experienced with piloting the white mobile suit. That, itself, led to the conclusion that the mobile suit had been acquired recently.

"Very well, let's try to answer Lunamaria's question just now." The FAITH member gazed at Athrun. "Since you found out the information, what will you do it?"

"It is our duty to report our finding to ZAFT."

"And that's exactly why I don't want everyone to find out."

Athrun looked at her incredulously. "What are you talking about? They should know about this!"

Talia shook her head. "You're very naïve. Do you realize why we ended up fighting Archangel instead of Marco?" When the man couldn't come up with an answer, she continued, "The ship had gone rogue. It is as simple as that."

"Deserter?" Meyrin asked.

"From the very beginning I had suspected that it wouldn't return to Alaska but instead use the Makassar Strait to lose us. It will then head east along Papua New Guinea and then arrive at Orb, seeking asylum."

"Orb?" Athrun asked.

"Orb. We're quite quiet lucky that the ship deserts the Alliance. Do you know why?"

"No."

"Alliance would have found out that we have a nuclear mobile suit."

"But in that case, we can claim that that it's theirs," Luna protested.

"See? That's where you are very wrong. In war, it doesn't matter who built it first or who use it first. What matters is either everyone doesn't use it or everyone use it."

"You mean…" Meyrin asked with a horrified expression, realizing what her superior had implied.

"Yes. It doesn't matter even if the circumstance is reversed. Trying to determine which side built it first or which side fielded it earlier first is moot when both sides would quickly field their nuclear mobile suits in respond. To my knowledge, we have at least fifty nuclear engines ready to be fitted in our mobile suits just in case and I can imagine the same thing with Alliance." Talia stared at Athrun. "If you mention one word about this to someone, be prepared for a nuclear warfare tomorrow."

"I understand," he said reluctantly.

"Good. I know you would understand." She turned to Meyrin. "You're going to add a backdoor to the operating system of every mobile suit on board this ship as well as detection processing computer that will cause them to ignore peculiarities in the mobile suit's propulsion."

"I'll help,"

All eyes were on the single male in the room.

"I really don't like this but I understand your reasoning," he clarified. "Besides, I know my way around the prototypes' programming so it would be faster."

"I'd appreciate that," Talia said.

"Why don't we just destroy the no-face white jackass now before the ship reaches Orb?" Lunamaria asked.

"No-face white jackass?" Athrun asked.

"We have to call it something," the short-haired pilot argued.

"The time is not right to attack the no-face white jackass." Talia said contemplatively. "Currently, Archangel is technically an Alliance ship so it quite risky. However, if my prediction is correct, we will have the chance to fight it later."

* * *

Cagalli Yula Attha, known to everyone as the scion to Izumi Nara Athha held down the curse that was already at the tip of her tongue as she piloted her mobile armour to make a fly-by the Alliance's ship that slowly made its way to one of Orb's hidden military port. Already a flight commander at a young age which she achieved through meritocracy rather than using her father's influence, she was tasked with escorting the ship while ensuring that it didn't try to do anything peculiar. In the small probability that it tried to do something however, her flight would unleashed all of their anti-ship missiles which she didn't doubt would destroy the ship given its damaged condition.

Despite the importance of the mission, she couldn't help but be annoyed. Her bothersome brother had been missing for almost two weeks and the situation vexed her. She wanted to go to the island where he was at but was held down by her duties. She could, at any time put in a request for a search to be conducted but that would be using her father's power and she didn't want to do that. Besides, her relationship with her younger brother wasn't that well known except to select few so she didn't feel like explaining to others why a search has to be conducted for a normal civilian.

"This is Lancer 1, situation A-OK" she reported to the command.

"Roger, Lancer 1, proceed with caution."

She made another fly-past, taking note of the two leg-like compartments in front of the ship. It seemed that the two compartments were big enough to store mobile suits. But that was impossible since that would mean Alliance had a jump start over Orb which was still grappling with its own mobile suits program.

"Lancer 1, you're to return home immediately, I repeat, return home immediately."

"Roger." Cagalli frowned. The only way for her mission to be aborted just like that was for her father to summon her and he would only summon her bypassing the normal channel if there was something very important.

* * *

Tolle slurped his coffee rather noisily, earning a disapproving look from his girlfriend seated next to him.

"Do you mind?" Mirriallia asked.

"Not at all." he replied before he resumed his slurping despite his answer. "You have yours and I like you for what you are, so if you want to enjoy your coffee as well, go ahead."

She sighed and threw up her hands in the air, bringing out a smile from Kira who was seated facing the two of them. The auburn-haired Coordinator was quite amazed with their ability to remain calm despite the numerous soldiers posted nearby. He looked around and saw the same thing with the ship's personnel in the cafeteria who kept eating despite their guards.

Kira gave a nervous smile at a nearby guard who ignored him and remained stoic. While the guards were Orb soldiers, he had yet to hear about a bullet being able to tell apart enemy combatants and innocent civilians so he still had a good reason to worry.

Most of the ship's personnel were in the whole plan so when it was announced that everyone were to stand down and surrender to the Orb soldiers who were coming onboard it was only him that was surprised. Tolle had apologized for keeping mum on the situation since he was instructed not to tell Kira. Although Kira was a bit miffed at his friend's action, he readily forgave him since he had no choice in the matter. Besides, both Kira and Tolle had went to the primary and junior high school in Heliopolis and Tolle's ability to keep secrets was one of the reasons why they were pals in the first place, especially since one or two of those secrets could cause Kira to be caught; hacking into police computer even without any malevolent intent was something punishable by law after all.

Once the announcement was made, however, Tolle was free to divulge to Kira the specifics regarding the intention to surrender to Orb force and seek asylum. It was rather confusing to Kira since he didn't expect it to happen and instead resigned himself to end up at somewhere in North America.

Izumi Nara Attha was more imposing in person, Murrue thought as she saluted the man who entered the bridge.

The head of the small but powerful country nodded slowly. "We've been expecting your arrival," he said.

"Thank you." Murrue replied before glancing at Mwu who gave her a reassuring wink.

Izumi strode to the center of the bridge and dismissed the Orb soldiers who seemed rather reluctant to leave their leader with the two Alliance officers but order had already been given. They gave a crisp salute and left the place in the orderly manner.

"So, this is the trans-atmospheric Archangel, the ship capable of flight on Earth," the man remarked. "I can see a bit of similarities between this ship and the ships we're nearly completed but it seems that our country has yet to achieve parity with North Atlantic's atmospheric propulsion technology."

Murrue instantly understood the reasoning behind Orb's agreement to receive the ship's asylum arrangement. Doing so would allow the country the opportunity to reverse-engineer and learn the ship's technology.

"If you're thinking that we agree to accept Archangel to study it, then you're mistaken because our country doesn't need to do power projection beyond our border so our current armada is more than sufficient to protect our water and the propulsion technology isn't really needed."

Murrue felt her face reddened as the man seemed to read her mind.

"To say we wouldn't benefit from the exchange isn't true since we want the synthesis of your mobile suit's operating system. However, even that wasn't enough to convince me." Izumi had a faraway look on his face. "Your admiral, he traded his life to ensure that this ship and its complement wouldn't fall into the hands of Blue Cosmos."

Murrue had already steeled herself for the news but it still felt as if her heart was being stabbed with a blunt knife.

"What happened?" Mwu asked.

"Shuttle accident. The Alliance blamed it on ZAFT seeing that he's the architect of your successful operation."

The blonde ace snorted. "Really milks us for the publicity even to the last drop, huh."

* * *

One moment Kira was eating his soggy cereals, compliments of the ship's cafeteria, and the next, his face was being pressed into the bowl by a firm hand on the back of his head. He raised his head, sputtering milk as he did so. He quickly wiped off his face before turning toward the person responsible to protest. However, the angry scowl from the perpetrator stopped him cold.

Cagalli was standing right beside him, pissed beyond hell and the fact that there were so many witnesses in the room didn't do well to comfort him. "Um… I claim treatment under Geneva Convention?"

"Oh? You claim treatment under Geneva Convention? Do you really think I care for that?"

Mir stood up to say something but Tolle pulled her down. She gave him a questioning look. He shook his head.

"I'll show you the proper treatment you deserve!" Cagalli said as she pulled Kira's ear, forcing the pained youngster to leave the place. "Damn you stupid worm, wasting my time and causing me to be summoned in the middle of a mission!"

When the two had disappeared, Mir reproached her boyfriend, "I know that she's Attha's daughter but that's no reason for her to be treating our people like that," she frowned for a moment, "she has no reason to be treating her people like that. We have the convention, after all."

"True," Tolle agreed before taking a bite from his burger. "But as far as I remember, Geneva Convention has nothing on maltreating siblings for doing something stupid."

* * *

It had been a few days the ship had set anchor at the port and it was those few days that Erica Simmons tried to achieve neurosis by depriving herself of sleep. At such time she cursed for having to sleep; so many work to do, so many things to accomplish. The Orb scientist had kept herself busy examining the technology behind ship and of course its mobile suits. Already she had plans for them, plans that were well underway given the carte blanche approval to modify them since the Orb army would certainly use them in the future. Of course, with the synthesis of mobile suit operating was the first order of the day but she was also busy trying to fit Alliance's railgun-based CIWS with Orb's own design.

While she was attending to those two project, Erica was also tried to come up with an explanation on how Alliance could come up with mobile suit breakthrough in mobile suit frame and joints technology in such a short time even though Orb had been working on it even before the war started. Plus, with the limited information that she managed to scrounge about the attack on ZAFT base, the prototypes had proven their worth in combat whereas Orb's own had just undergone the final phase optimization

She put down her table computer on the desk, deciding to go on a short break. Maybe when she came back, she could figure out the current problem of trying to bypass the white prototype's security protocol. It seemed that the system didn't react no any attempt to switch it on.

* * *

Somewhere in JOSH-A, the Alliance central headquarters located in Alaska, a high ranking Alliance officer looked around him to make sure no one were around before entering the room. Inside the darkened place, few people had been waiting for him. "For a pure and blue world," he said in a salutary manner.

"For a pure and blue world," came the quiet chorus.

The man took a seat.

"So, Sutherland," one of the people spoke. "We've read the report of the hit you ordered on Halberton. While everyone in the room concurred that he was a threat, nevertheless your intervention had a rather negative effect on our development.

Instinctively, Sutherland took out a cigarette and lit it up. Despite what non-smokers claimed, he found it easier to put together his thoughts while smoking. Besides, it also served as a ploy to delay the conversation for a few seconds, enough to create a psychological advantage of having people wait on his words, few of which are his superiors. After the second puff had dissipated only he answered, "I know that. However even as we speak, our forces all over the globe are receiving Dagger units which should put us on parity with ZAFTs."

"That is not enough!" another one said. "The Eurasians are fielding their Hyperions while we have substandard equipments!"

"And how many Hyperions they have?" Sutherland asked.

"Er… I'm not sure."

"Three, and all of them are also battery-operated, in line with the convention. We have a hundred Daggers and the number will be increasing, so please don't tell me the three could hold off an assault of thirty Daggers, not when the use weapons with high power usage." The general took another puff. "But I understand the need to have units at superior to Spitfires even if for publicity purposes. The new machines that we're working on had exceeded their performance and it wouldn't be too much to claim that ZAFT's… what do they call it?"

"Gundams," someone supplied the answer helpfully.

"Ah, right. 'Gundam's'. Basically our 'Gundams' when finished can destroy theirs easily."

* * *

"You have a lot on your mind," Cagalli said as the two of them sat on the patio, stargazing.

The self-proclaimed older sister had beat him up the day the ship anchored at Orb. While he could, with some effort stop her, he didn't because it was her way of saying that she was very worried over his disappearence and let her beat the stuffing out of him was his way of saying that he was sorry. Of course, when the two reached Kira's home, his mother broke in tears while his father simply put his arms around his family and Cagalli.

It was at that time Kira remembered his words to the late Reverend Malchio few weeks prior. Truly, he had a blessed life.

"You didn't eat a lot even though your mom cooked your favorite," she continued while glancing toward his house.

"Mom…" Kira trailed. "Cagalli, have you wondered about our parents, the real one I mean."

"I did now and then but only for a few seconds?"

"Why? Didn't you want to meet them?" While his parents, Caridad Yamato and Haruma Yamato, were good people, he really wanted to find out about his and Cagalli's real parents. What kind of people were they? Why did they give Cagalli and him away? Were they still alive and if so, where were they?

Cagalli set down the mug of tea that she was about drink from. "Yes, I want to know them but I'm not going to dedicate my time to do so. I'm fine with not finding out about them for the rest of my live."

"How could you say such things?"

"I can because I'm my own person," she replied. "I yearn to know the past but I live in the present and plan for the future so I will not let my past bog me down."

It was something he already expected from his twin sister. Cagalli had always seemed sure of what she wanted to do and had the drive to go out and do it. "More like your future will be bogged down by one Jona Roma Seiran from the way he's wooing you, with all that flowers and stuff."

"That retard?" Cagalli rolled her eyes. "I really hate his gut!"

"There's a very fine line between hate and love. Besides you would certainly miss his pursue when he suddenly stopped."

"Sure, just like a bubonic plague."

The two of them became lost in their own thoughts until Kira couldn't take it and blurted out. "I've killed someone."

"I know. I've read the report," Cagalli said before sipping her tea.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Couldn't, not without making me look like the biggest hypocrite in the world. I haven't killed before so I can't say to you, 'it's all right; you did it to protect the children so you had no choice'. I couldn't even say that it's the right thing to do. I practice day and night for the time when I'll be forced to press the trigger and then the report came revealing that you destroyed two mobile suits in a single fight. The only thing I can clearly say is that if I'm in your place, I'll do the same thing and then some."

Maybe Cagalli was the older sibling after all. "But my parents… I can't tell them about what happened."

"Then don't, at least until you're ready."

* * *

Flay smiled at the first person who entered the darkened interrogation room. "To be honest, I really don't expect you to come here; you have to keep your image clean, you know."

"I'm aware of the Yamashita standard, Miss Hentoff" Izumi replied, referring to the doctrine of hierarchical command responsibility and accountability that originated before Cosmic Era.

Her smiled dropping ever slightly, Flay continued, "Really, I have to say that if referring to me by my mother's maiden name an attempt to impress me with Orb's intelligence gathering, then I really think you're really pathetic."

Kisaka growled. "How dare you act discourteous and ill-mannered in front of our leader. Not only you remained seated when His Excellency entered, now you utter blasphemous words regarding His Excellency? How disrespectful!"

Flay laughed. "Respect is a two way street. If you really want me to be courteous then you should have acted that way when you entered the room." She waved her hand around. "And this place is more suitable to breed fear rather than instill respect, you know."

"But that's no reason for you to be saying such a thing."

"Okay, let me say something else." She pointed at Kisaka. "You are very stupid."

Izumi put a hand to calm Kisaka down before addressing. "Very well, I apologize for my error."

"Your Excellency!" his bodyguard protested but the man remained unmoved.

"I hate my mother," Flay said suddenly.

Izumi nodded. "Then I apologize once again for my error." Referring to the woman by her mother's surname could only be seen as an insult to her. Also, by him making that mistake, it already told her the capability of Orb's Intelligence which wasn't very powerful outside its own territory. "Also, let me apologize for the current arrangement. Should we reconvened at a more comfortable and conducive place?"

"There's no need. Besides, I want to remain alive until this thing blows over so less people see me, the better." She held out her hand.

Izumi gave a signal to Kisaka who brought out a small computer and set it in front of her.

"Have a seat," Flay said to Izumi before switching on the computer.

Despite the room having few more chairs, the two men kept standing.

"Suit yourself. This thing is on the Kitsune Network?"

"No," Kisaka said, still angry at her impudence.

"Good." Flay entered commands into the computer at high speed. "You already realized it, don't you?" she said to Izumi.

He knew. It was simple enough to understand. Yet it was quite difficult to accept. The enemy had compromised the security network installed used by Orb's Intelligence Agency, one that was developed indigenously for the purpose.

Izumi spared a look on the Blue Cosmos operative. He realized that what she had presented to him was a façade, an image he had seen on many who tried to cover their fear. Perhaps the woman wasn't really afraid of death but he could see that she was hiding something. No good agent would suddenly make a turnaround and offer to betray their employer to the enemy. True, he had to wonder on her real value but he had to admit, he was curious with the way she was acting.

Flay turned the computer to face him and Izumi felt his heart tightened. There the answer was, right in front of his eyes.

"I think the good admiral realized this which is why he approached you," Flay remarked. "He wanted to 'return' what was stolen."

There was a possibility that the redhead was trying to trap him but the Orb Representative was an objective man and being objective meant open to accepting the bleak truth he was seeing.

Suddenly the suggestion to sit seemed more enticing.

"Lord Sahaku and his family are Coordinators," Kisaka said. "I can't see why they commit this travesty, not when it meant working together with the very same people who want to exterminate them."

"That's because you really don't understand the truth, do you?" Flay asked rhetorically. "At the very basic level, there's no such thing as Naturals and Coordinators."

"Even before Cosmic Era mankind go to war," Izumi said to explain her statement, "for various reasons. Religion, ethnic or politic; even in homogenous society was no guarantee against internal turmoil. I'm sure the Sahakus have their own reasons for betraying Orb which has nothing to do with them being Coordinators."

Flay shook her head and sighed. "It's close enough though that's not what I meant. So Lord Izumi, while I don't care about what will you do with the information, may I have my reward for signing my own death warrant?"

"As I promised, we'll try to fulfill it."

* * *

1

* * *

Author's note (14 June 2010)

1. No note whatsoever. Oh wait, this is also a note


	6. The land of peace and freedom

He adjusted his sunglass, feeling a bit smug with himself as he exited the airport. It had taken him quite some time to come up disguise for his cover but it was worth it.

"**Birdy!**" a metallic voice chirped in agreement.

Captain Talia had given him permission to visit Orb to investigate about the Alliance mobile suit and ship. The mission was actually a farce because there was no way he could do the job without risking international incident should he be caught. Besides, he was the son of a prominent ZAFT politician so the fallout would be even worse.

So there he was, pretending to be on be a vacationer when he was actually on a spying mission which had to be turned into a vacation because it would be risky to be actually spying while pretending to be on a vacation. Athrun sighed. At the very least his disguise was so good that nobody would recognize him.

He walked around, reveling in the views he got from everyone. Perhaps his dressing was a bit vogue and he should have toned it down a little bit. Then a thought entered his mind. Since he was in Orb, he should try to look for Kira. It's been a few years since they've met and they would have a lot to talk about. Plus, he wanted to know about the first mechanical pet he had invented… what was its name again?

"**Birdy!"**

Right. Birdy. That was the name of the green bird. It would be nice if Kira still kept the green bird he had fashioned for his best friend. It would be a difficult job to locate the brunette in that country but if the man wasn't in Heliopolis colony, the place where they first met, then he would most likely be in Orb.

"Athrun?" a voice called out uncertainly.

Athrun froze in his spot at hearing his name being called. Not willing to turn toward the voice, he feigned ignorance.

"Athrun Zala?" the voice called again, this time more insistent.

Reluctantly, Athrun turned around as he tried to school his feature to not betray his apprehension at being discovered. However, once he saw the person who called out to him, he couldn't help himself from smiling. "Kira?"

"It is you!" Kira said as he went to hug his childhood friend. "It's been so long since I saw you!"

The redcoat in disguise hugged back his friend, happy at the reunion but yet he couldn't help but give a measuring look at what seemed to be Kira's companion; a rather attractive short-haired blonde woman with shiny golden eyes. Even the male and childish side of him couldn't help feeling jealous the rational part of him was trying to determine the level of threat the woman posed to his cover. It was strange but he could have sworn that he had seen her somewhere.

Kira broke the hug. "Man, it's a pleasure to see you here. Here on a holiday?"

"Um… yeah," Athrun chuckled nervously as the blonde's expression narrowed.

"Ah yes. How rude of me." Kira gestured toward the blonde. "This is…"

"I'm Carrey Dinar," the blonde said neutrally. "A friend of Kira's."

"Friend… I see." Athrun neither miss the fact that Kira was standing too close to the blonde to be considered as a 'friend' nor he missed the frown that appeared on him when Carrey Dinar introduced herself as his friend. "Congrats, Kira. You and Carrey Dinar made…"

Carrey Dinar stomped toward him and grabbed his collar. It took quite an effort for the trained soldier not to react to the hostile move. "Look here, bird brain," she said with gritted teeth while pulling him toward her. "If you think your clowning around here is tolerated, then you're making a big mistake. I'll be watching you. You fool around with Kira, and you'll deal me personally." She released her hold and pushed none too gently and then stormed away.

"Cag… Carrey," Kira called out to the woman.

"I'll see you later, Kira," she said as she continued walking.

Athrun remained speechless for almost a minute. "Did she… suggest that the two of us have something going on?" he asked, breaking his self-imposed silence.

Kira scratched his head. "Well, maybe one of 'those' days."

"Oh." The suggested answer would have explained the strange behavior. "Say, that reminds me. How do you know that it was me? I like to think that my… um… clothing is different now."

"I was searching for Birdy for almost half an hour now and I found it on your head." His friend replied while pointing above his head. "You know Birdy wouldn't simply approach anyone."

"Huh?" Athrun slowly put hand a hand on his head only to confirm that Birdy was indeed on it. Then it made sense; those weird stares he had been receiving from people passing by. He didn't realize about Birdy's presence and walked around with the bird perched on top of his head, all the while thinking that he was looking cool.

Athrun had an urge to cover his head with a paper bag.

"**Birdy!"**

"No, I don't need you to read my thought and agree with me!"

"You know," Kira began, "this feels déjà vu."

His best friend looked heavenward and heaved. "That again? How many times I have to remind you: You didn't find me hiding in the bush with a bird on my head when we were small. I think it was a girl"

"Really? You seemed girly when you were small. Besides, Birdy seems to recall the programming."

"**Birdy!"**

"See?"

"It does not!" Athrun insisted. "And Birdy, don't just agree with anything he said!"

Meanwhile Cagalli was in a foul mood. Out of all friends Kira had, one of them had to be Athrun Zala. Being involved in politics surely had its own advantage as she had learned several influential people and with Patrick Zala on the PLANT's council, his son would make a juicy target, if she was working with Alliance, which she didn't. As long as he didn't cause some ruckus, she was willing to pretend not to notice him. She also hoped that Kira got the message not to reveal her real identity as well as her relationship to him because she really would cause him a world of hurt if he messed up.

Her brother probably met the birdbrain while studying in Heliopolis, just like those Alliance soldier named Tolle whom she did met at Kira's farewell party. The man seemed rather decent in her opinion which is why she was surprised to see him wearing a military uniform, belonging to Coordinator-hating Atlantic Federation outfit some more.

All of a sudden, she was on the hard sidewalk, the commotion of her falling attracting the attention of people passing by for a few seconds before they go their own way.

"Damn it, bitch! Watch where you were going!" someone uttered.

Cagalli spun toward the speaker, intent to give him her piece of mind. She came face to face with a snotty looking brat who looked around her age picking up what seemed to be small boxes of media disc. "Is that 'Galge'?" she asked while pointing at the boxes, forgetting her intent.

The brat sniffed and clutched the boxes possessively. "I wouldn't let you put your grubby paw on my special edition of 'Nekomimi Alliance' and 'Yuki Zakura' that available in special boxes version instead of downloadable content.

"Huh? What the hell do you think I am, you low-grade Otaku," she said while standing up. "Say," she said as she examined him closely, "aren't you from the Six Squadron?"

"How… Oh…" the man trailed as he seemed to realize to whom he was talking to. "Now you're going to use your nobility on me, aren't you?"

The statement caused Cagalli's blood to boil. She really hated using her position for personal matter and she hated being accused of doing such thing. She made a derisive snort and left before the man's stupidity infected her.

The man looked critically at her retreating figure. "Lady? Hah! As if. If she's a lady then Attila the Hun must have been Snow White."

* * *

Asagi Caldwell sighed as she slowly moved her cast leg into a more comfortable position. The doctor onboard Archangel had told her that she broke her leg when she crashed her Spitfire. While she would recover, it was an obvious that the crash spelled 'el finito' to her career as a mobile suit pilot and thus an end to her being with her friends.

She was bored.

Everyone else had permission from Orb Security Service to go to mainland so they probably had left, leaving her alone in the infirmary. While Mir had offered to stay behind, she couldn't accept it as that would deny Mir of the chance to be with Tolle. She also chased away the rest, telling them to bring her some souvenirs.

She was alone and bored. It would be three more hours before the next check up and she had to fill her time with some kind of activity. All the books given to her had been finished twice and Asagi wasn't in the mood to color the coloring book Stellar got her. In the end, she resolved to go to sleep.

Then the door opened. "Surprise!" few people chorused.

"Surprise?" she said while looking at the people who had just entered the room. Her flight leader, along with her boyfriend and others were there. Even Stellar, even though she had to balk at the maid costume the girl was wearing. "Um… Why are you here?"

"Stellar want to celebrate Asagi's birthday." The girl stepped aside to reveal a wheelchair behind her.

"This way, everyone can go," Mayura said excitedly. "And we already book for the celebration."

"And if you're thinking, the doctor gave us his okay," Jun added.

"After we eat delicious cake, Asagi and Stellar can go around the city." Stellar said.

"Can go? Celebration? Doctor? Birthday?" she turned toward Mirriallia in confusion. The latter should have known that she didn't even know her birthday since she became orphan at a very young age and her extended family, if they really existed, didn't look for her. When she was entered into Anti-Coordinator program, she merely accepted it as being her fate to die fighting. But then she was transferred into Archangel into the PIXIE squadron and it was there she found something close enough to a 'family'.

Mir smiled. "Well, Nina," she stopped for a second as her smile faltered, "Nina had always wanted to celebrate your birthday but there was no time and the situation wasn't right." Slowly, she brought out a small wrapped box and handed it to Asagi.

The bed-ridden girl noticed that the wrapping was a bit warped in certain spots.

"Sorry, I handled the box while my hands were wet, so…"

Mir was lying and she knew what really happened: her flight leader found it heavy to give away the gift to Asagi, not when it served as a memento of her best friend. It didn't matter though as Asagi felt her tears splashing on the wrapped box. "Thank you," she whispered. "Everyone, thank you for being with me. Thank you for celebrating my birthday. Thank you… thank you," she trailed off as she let her tears run free, unafraid that she would be scolded or punished via shock for doing so. She was not in the Anti-Coordinator training program but with people she considered as family.

The arms of Mir, Jun, Mayura and Stellar felt warm and comforting as they embraced each other.

Tolle smiled softly at he slowly closed the door to the room. Everyone inside needed some time together, the time that had been needed to them, so it was only proper that he gave it to them.

* * *

"So, what do you do now, Athrun?" Kira asked as they walked along the pier, watching the gulls returning to the shore as the sun was setting down.

The two had spent the day reminiscing their shared childhood memory in Heliopolis: how they put a whoopee cushion on Mrs. White's seat and how it made an obscene sound in the class as well as the subsequent punishment they had to endure, building an autonomous flying drone only to have it crash into someone's window and how they ran away before the person came out, how the two of them had been detailed by the class teacher to man the refreshment stand during school sport day and becoming drenched when one of their friends slipped while holding a pot of water and all those fun and not so fun details.

That was why when Kira found out that Athrun had to move away at the final day of their primary schooling, he had cried.

"Right now I'm… um… how to say this, I work with equipments that require the knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering."

"Ah, Mechatronics! I know you're talented in that field."

"Right. Mechatronics. That one." Athrun said while chuckling nervously. "It would be nice to work in that field. So how about you?"

Surprised that the question was shoved back to him, Kira didn't notice Athrun's slip of tongue. "I'm doing so programming and testing." It was somewhat truth if a bit convoluted as he did helping in the programming of operating system for mobile suits that would be used in the war. "Say, how long did you say your trip will be?"

"I didn't say anything about it, but maybe three days. I took some time from ugh… my work to enjoy some R&R."

Kira turned toward his friend."That's great! Why don't I show you around tomorrow and then bring you over my house for dinner? Mum's a swell cook, if I have to say so myself."

"Sure."

* * *

Murrue exchanged a glance with Mwu who in turn shrugged. She then turned to address the Representative of Orb. "I understand that it's within your power but if I may ask the reason why," she stopped and tried to come up with a movement but in the end just pointed to the person who had entered the room, "she is here?"

"We had a bargain," Izumi said with a tint of apology in his voice as the person took one of the remaining two seats. "Miss Alster insisted that she be here for the discussion. I hope there's no problem with the arrangement."

'_No problem? She is a catastrophe with legs'_ Murrue wanted to shout but instead kept it restrained in her. "If it's okay with you then I don't say why not,"

To a normal person, it seemed that Izumi had deferred the decision to her but she knew that he was just being polite since he held the real power.

"Thank you very much," Izumi said as he took the last seat. "Shall we begin with the discussion, Colonel?"

Before Murrue could say anything, Flay had interjected, "This ship must not remain here."

The other three people quickly stared with her; Murrue and Mwu's looks were of annoyance because of her interruption whereas Izumi was surprised by her words. When she had revealed the existence of traitors and double agents in Orb, she had requested that she would be brought along on his meeting with the two former Alliance officers. But he didn't expect her to find out the topic of their discussion.

"I already guessed that there will be a discussion to determine the fate of the ship and its mobile suits between the three of you which is why I requested to be present,"  
Flay continued, answering Izumi's silent question.

"That's very astute of you," the man remarked.

"But why?" Mwu asked.

"Before I answer that," Flay turned to Izumi, "I would like to confirm whether Orb had detected any intrusion attempt by unmanned reconnaissance vehicle."

"There was none. Orb had increased its surveillance three-fold and I'm quite confident that none would be able to bypass our security system."

"And that is good, isn't it?" the blonde man asked.

"I really wonder about that. It could be that there was no attempt to do the reconnaissance because ZAFT commander that attacked us already knew that we're here," Flay hypothesized.

Murrue was aghast at the comment. The explanation made sense. The enemy seemed to predict correctly that Archangel would sail through Makassar Strait and used the information to set up an ambush. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe that the same commander already knew that the ship would go to Orb instead of heading north to the nearby Alliance base. "That's why she had no reason to send her planes here."

"I see," Izumi remarked in a thoughtful manner. "But Miss Alster, I neither see the connection between this fact and you wanting to be here nor you giving up information, a precious."

"Because I don't really care for it in the first place."

"Aren't you Blue Cosmos members supposed to be fanatics? You know, hate Coordinators and all that garbage about the so-called pure and blue world…"

"I hate Coordinators," Flay clarified with a steely expression. "Because it was because of Coordinators I don't have a family and when I do have a family, Coordinators took it away and…" She stopped to still her silent tremble. "It was a _Coordinator _who killed my best friend," she finished quietly. "If she wasn't fighting against a Coordinator at that time, she probably still be alive to this day. As you said earlier, I hate them very much." The young woman smiled venomously. "Ah, right. I guess you're going to say that you wouldn't deal with someone like me, right?" she said as she silently challenged the three of them. When she noticed Izumi was about to say something, she quickly interrupted. "Not even if what I'm going to say next will save everyone, including those Coordinators you like so much?"

"My patient with you is running thin, young lady," the Orb Representative replied slowly. "Make your words count or else…"

"The ZAFT commander already knows the mobile suit is nuclear-powered," she said while smashing her hands on the table in front of her. With her words catching everyone by surprise, she stood and pointed to Murrue and Mwu. "And this is partly your fault for not telling me where the ship was headed!"

"How could ZAFT knew about Spectrum?" Murrue questioned defensively. "You're not making any sense."

Flay chuckled. "Making sense? Did it occur to you the _real _reason why the ZAFT's Captain didn't bother searching us here? I'll tell you why. She didn't want to find this ship in Orb!"

"Are you saying that the captain purposely avoided searching for Archangel and Spectrum here?" Izumi asked.

"This is the worst case scenario but if you really think that I'm wrong, you're free to throw me into a dungeon and throw away the key."

Mwu was frowning at the statement. "But that means by being here, Archangel and Spectrum is endangering this country."

"Spectrum," Flay corrected.

"If what you say is true, then the reason why the captain didn't search for the ship and mobile suit is to avoid the rest of ZAFT find out about Spectrum," Izumi said. He could see the reasoning. Izumi wasn't conceited to admit that the higher echelon of ZAFT wouldn't dare attack his nation despite its neutrality. So, any revelation of Orb harboring Archangel and Spectrum could cause a declaration of war against it.

However, if the country was attacked by ZAFT, that would lead to an escalation of conflict which would certainly be seized by Alliance even if Orb would remain indifference to any treaty; one reason that he could think of is Alliance accusing ZAFT of trying to conquer Earth which would certainly seem that way by more neutral nations. The other reason would be that the Alliance would want to reclaim its rogue ship and prevent it from falling into ZAFT's hands.

In another unsavory scenario, Alliance would claim that Archangel was sent to help Orb which would be quite a logical explanation given the situation. Even if ZAFT revealed the existence of the nuclear-powered mobile suit in Orb, with the country's diplomatic standing, it would be easy to dismiss the claim as something fraudulent. Since ZAFT had been using combat mobile suits for a while, such action could in fact backfire on them.

He gave a look at the redhead who nodded. It looked like he also arrived at the same conclusion as she did. "The ZAFT captain doesn't have all the necessary information and is bidding for time. That's why there wasn't any move made. Miss Alster, you're saying that the longer the Spectrum and Archangel remains here, the more danger they would pose to this country?"

"Why Archangel as well?" Mwu asked.

"Because Spectrum has been identified with it," Murrue said resignedly. "One couldn't be seen without people wondering about the other. It looks like Archangel have to leave Orb, isn't it?" she asked Izumi.

"I'm sorry that you're right. We're neutral right now so even if we have the means to protect ourselves, Orb will not enter the war unnecessarily." The man turned to Flay. "By revealing the existence of traitors and spies in Orb you hope to slow down the time. But in the end the ship will have to leave but the details we'll work out later. What I want to know is where will you be when the time comes?"

"You wouldn't like it," the redhead answered but I want to be onboard Archangel."

Mwu gave a hard look at her. "So you can play your role as triple agents, furthering your agenda as Blue Cosmos? Kill more Coordinators?"

"Yes. I will erase every one of them, until only human remains."

"You!" the blonde ace stood up but was held by Murrue.

"Miss Alster," Izumi began. "All of us have heard your saying that you want to kill Coordinators a few times already. However, I have to ask you: are you sure you're in the position to be saying that?"

She turned toward him. "It seems that I have to apologize to you for looking down on Orb's Intelligence," she said in not so sincere manner.

"Apology accepted," Izumi said neutrally.

"What are you saying?" Murrue asked confused with the exchange.

Her questioned remained unanswered as the Orb Representative and the Alster scion traded silent stare.

* * *

"Captain!" a man called out in alarm.

"What is it, Arthur?" Talia asked while wondering why her Executive Officer, shortened to XO, couldn't act like his legendary namesake. After all, a king has to remain calm at all time but not her subordinate who always seem so fidgety that the only thing she could think off that could probably challenge him was a recently opened can of Mexican jumping bean.

"We lost one of our drones!"

Calmly, she turned toward Meyrin who nodded. "Probable cause?"

"It was shot down," the SCCS reported.

Talia turned toward the main screen and crossed her fingers in front of her face as she pondered the information. "By what?"

"Air to air missile, make, unknown but believed to be BVR."

"Beyond-visual-range…" The captain of Minerva clucked her tongue in annoyance as she arrived at an unsatisfactory conclusion. "I want you to search for information, any information on all Atlantic Federation's as well as Eurasian Pacific Fleet CSGs in the recent months. Any sighting of them, whether here, Artic, wherever, as long as pertaining to them, I want to see it."

"Carrier Strike Group?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," she said impatiently. "You know, a group of ships with an aircraft carrier? The group of ships which can be dangerous to us?" she asked back sarcastically. The drone shot down belonged to a fleet of newest ZAFT UAVs designed to operate on Earth theatre. Stealth and very low observable profile were among of its numerous advantages so it was quite improbable to shoot it down from far away unless the enemy had some sort of advanced radar. The lack of enemy installation in the area suggested that the drone was detected by airborne early warning system.

The main screen began showing numerous details pertaining to all known CSGs belonging to Alliance's Pacific Fleet.

"I think…" Meyrin began slowly.

"Tell me," Talia commanded.

The ensign nodded. "I think it's the America CSG," she said as the information about the group was displayed on the screen.

America CSG, the first and unfortunately the last in its class of then outdated fighter carrier design as Spengler-class carriers were hurriedly introduced to counter ZAFT's threat. Unlike Spengler-class carriers which carried the complementing squadron of vertically launched or landing F-7D Spearhead, America carried the carrier-launched FX-535 Thunderstrike squadron which was considered inferior from F-7D due to the aircrafts having to be launched via runaways or carriers.

"Full stop," Talia called out to Malik who was at the helm.

"Ma'am?"

"Full stop."

"Aye aye ma'am."

"Bart, I want a full sonar sweep of the area. Chen, I want you to ready our ASROCs just in case. Meyrin, I want all pilots ready for launch in five minutes. All of them."

It was an uncommon knowledge to ZAFT ship captains that a CSG would have at least two submarines in them but that was to be expected since many of them would be commanding space-borne Laurasia-class and the newly launched Nazca-class ship. But Talia held an uncommon position, captaining Minerva, a special operation ZAFT ship that could operate on Earth and in space so she had to be familiar with both theatre strategies and tactics.

"Area energized, and no enemy detected," Bart reported.

Talia bit her lips. "Sound the red alert. I want the firefighting teams on standby. Chen, set all our available anti-ship missiles to automatic target search in case we need to fire them."

"Captain, aren't you overreacting?" Arthur asked. "It's just a drone," he continued, contradicting the way he was acting moments before.

"Captain," Bart interrupted. "Detecting two anti-ship missiles vectoring in our position!"

"CIWS!"

"CIWS at full auto!" Chen reported.

Silence reigned in the bridge as two CIWS units came to life, firing at their designated targets. Two fireballs erupted a kilometer away, and Talia let out a relieved breath.

"Bart, have you tracked the missiles' point of origin?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Launch all our mobile suits!"

* * *

Onboard CVN-153 America, the only ship in its class, Rear Admiral Phillip Martin calmly munched his bagel, despite the tense situation. The tall lanky man with a streak of silver hair was no beginner to battles, having served in numerous conflicts before. In fact, there was a weird rumor that went around the carrier group that said he developed a craving for bagels as it reminded him of ship mines which was false of course since he had already liked the food since childhood.

"Coffee, sir?" his flag adjutant, or as referred to as 'the loop' asked him, a pot in her hand.

The Oklahoma-borne admiral nodded as she poured the content into a cup nearby cup and handed it to him, earning his thanks in return. He didn't really like the black caffeine-laden drink but he grew tired of the looks he got from everyone whenever he ate his favorite food with tea; it was as if he was committing a sacrilege of the highest order by not eating bagel with coffee. At least since he was promoted to his current rank, there were lot less people asking him whether his father was a police officer. "Situation?"

"Our surveillance unit confirmed the launch of three mobile suits astride with their flyer units toward the launch area," the woman answered.

"Hm… non-aerial mobile suit. I wonder if it's the same one that wiped out our space fleet,"

"The same one, except the white and blue that was destroyed by one of Phantom Pain's strike teams."

"Ah, that one. Read the report." Phillip murmured. The attack on Ocenia by a Phantom brigade strike team had bolstered the morals of Alliance, especially since it showed that the advanced ZAFT prototypes weren't invincible after all. While personally impressed by the audacity of the operation, he found irked by the fact that such Blue Cosmos-led teams would be successful whereas the normal military force failed. But he had to hand it to Blue Cosmos: the rich and famous club of anti-Coordinators power makers had a very good way of brainwashing and instilling blind loyalty since the team committed suicide by blowing up its ship to capture by enemy. It would be nice though if they didn't have to blow up such a ship; even though he was blue-blooded Navy man, he could appreciate the technical beauty and alluring form of the ship used in the assault. "All of our planes up in the air?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

"Sir?"

Philip noted the questioning look which is to be expected since they were fighting against one of ZAFT's finest. "Lieutenant Kathlene, since you've just become our 'loop' only recently, you might be unfamiliar with the tactics we use to fight ZAFT's navy. Have you heard about Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, the dictator of the Roman Republic?"

* * *

"Fabian strategy?" Arthur asked. "I don't see what that has to do with the order for the Joule team to return."

"I'm not willing to fight a pointless battle, not when we can retreat safely. If the enemy can be polite, then so can I."

"We can still fight them! Our Gundams can easily outmatch anything they have."

"You're right. Our mobile suits don't have to worry about them. It is _we_ who should fear them." If her hunch was correct, the Alliance's squadron would engage the Gundams an aerial battle. However, there was no guarantee that the enemy commander wouldn't change tactic and attack Minerva instead. With the fighters faster than even ZAFT's DINN, they could easily outrun the mobile suits to attack the ship and be gone long before the Gundams could arrive. Then the CSG would continue to harass Minerva, probably dropping bombs on the ship from high altitude, turning away to run before they could be intercepted.

It was a classic asymmetrical warfare tactic, one that she herself would use if the position was reversed so it would be an insult to think that the enemy was too incompetent to think of it.

When the war started, ZAFT military planners had planned for the Alliance to be quickly subdued by three-prongs strategy of reducing the strength of the military force through the use of technologically superior mobile suits, destroying key military targets such research facilities as well weapon factories and lastly achieving naval dominancy to cripple the economy of Alliance states. The strategy failed, leading to an impasse in the whole conflict.

There were many factors leading to the failure of the first two part of the strategy but only one reason attributed to ZAFT's not achieving naval dominancy: Alliance's CSGs. It was thought that a Vozgulov-class submarine, able to operate silently underwater, would be adequate enough to destroy such group by itself; it also can deploy underwater and aerial mobile suits if needed. That assumption was quickly proven wrong when two of them were lost in separate attempt to attack the CSGs while only one carrier and two frigates were crippled by the attacks.

It was found out that underwater attacks would require the Vozgulov to get as close as possible to the group of ships but doing so would expose itself to detection. An ambush could be arranged if the CSG's course could be determined but the advantage gained wasn't much since the anti-submarine frigates would provide cover to the whole group. An underwater attack could be carried out through UMF-4A GOOhNs but the moment it launched the mobile suits, it would make a lot of noise and render it detectable on enemy radar. Plus, the mobile suits rather unimpressive range made them tad better than guided torpedoes. A long range attack could be launched through DINNs but the enemy could always shoot them down; some mobile armour could be sent to engage them while the rest sent to hunt down the originating submarine.

A Vosgulov could probably destroy a lone aircraft carrier while risking significant risk of being destroyed itself so attacking a CSG increased the risk tenfold. Minerva had more firepower but suffered from other weaknesses such as lack of stealth.

"We can always fire Tannhauser at the group and destroy it with one shot," Arthur suggested.

"Arthur, remember just now that I asked for a sonar sweep and no submarine was detected. Now, either there's really no submarine in the area or there is a submarine waiting to ambush us should we try to attack. Even if there's no submarine around here, there will be a submarine hidden somewhere that will detect us firing our Tannhauser cannon and I would be surprised if we're not vaporized with a nuclear missile within thirty seconds of firing it. After all, it produces a lot of gamma weapon that it is essentially a WMD." She didn't feel the need to mention that the enemy CSG would have to be in visual range in order to fire Tanhausser at it due to atmosphere effect of reducing the range of the weapon.

"But Captain…"

"If we have to fight, it would be through conventional method and I'm quite certain our enemy possesses more situational awareness than we currently have." When Minerva attacked Archangel it had such advantage so Talia knew how much of a difference it would make. "And as I said earlier, I don't want to fight a pointless battle, especially one one where we don't hold an advantage which can cause us to lose."

* * *

"Retreat?" Phillip asked incredulously. "You're telling me they packed up and leave?"

"Yes sir. They even transmit the orders to their mobile suits through open and unencrypted channel. Should we pursue them?" his adjutant asked. "The Trident missiles we launched will intercept the ship in two minutes."

"No. If the missiles scored a hit or two then it's a go but the chance of that happening is very slim. Just call our people back." It seemed that the ZAFT's captain had already realized his tactic and recalled the mobile suits. He didn't know whether it stemmed from the captain being a Coordinator or not but he was impressed nonetheless especially with the audacity in which the intent to retreat was broadcast in a way that it would be intercepted by his fleet. Deciding not to fight was a correct decision to take because Phillip was confident that he could achieve a decisive victory if the advanced prototype could be led away.

He could press on with the attack but with their mobile suits guarding their ship, it would be very difficult to win. Since the ZAFT ship had also began retreating to safe waters rather than remain in the current position, it was obvious the captain didn't want to fight. Indeed, the best tacticians would be able to achieve the outcome of the battle before a single shot was fired and he could see that the ZAFT's commander would be a formidable foe in the future.

Phillip decided to focus on the current situation. "We however, will remain in the area."

"Sorry, sir?"

"ZAFT's there for a reason."

And whatever the reason was, Phillip intended to find out.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's Note (4 July 2010)**

1) Ah, right. Fourth of July, Happy Independence day to United States. When I started this chapter and the subsequent introduction of America-class, I didn't know that I'll actually finish this on 4th July so as I write this AN, I find the whole thing to be poignant. While I can't say whether America CSG would play a big role similar to Cherubim in Fallen Angel, at the very least it would have an impact on the whole situation.

2) I remember there was an anonymous review saying that the all of characters have been developed except Kira. Since it was anonymous, I couldn't reply via messaging and had to put it here in order to clear it up. Sure, most characters already started a bit developed as they were in military and you would expect normal characterization in regards to that fact; in contrast, Kira was the only one not in military so it seemed his character was yet to be defined. That said, I can say that as the story move, the characters would develop although the rate and path of development wouldn't be similar. After all I don't want to repeat the same thing that happened in GSD where the I couldn't even see some semblance of character development except for Athrun or maybe Cagalli and even Gilbert but the rest seemed rather the same throughout the series.


	7. Ravens

Mirriallia starred at the two mobile suits fighting against each other in awe as next to her, Erica Simmons, the senior engineer of Morgenroete which was responsible for developing the M1 Astray, a new mobile suit intended for use by the Orb military. "Let me guess," she said to Erica, "that's the power of Coordinator pilot?"

"No," the other woman answered while checking at the data being displayed on her tablet computer. "He's a Coordinator but that doesn't account for his performance."

"But he's fighting Stellar to a standstill!"

Erica shrugged and put away the tablet. "Well, that's the power of an Otaku."

"Otaku?"

"Japanese word for someone who's quite obsessive with something," Erica explained as Stellar's Spitfire knocked down the other Spitfire being piloted by other pilot. "If not for the fact that someone spotted him in a video game competition, he probably would have become a professional NEET, playing video games any free time he has. Some people say that he had been referred to as the god of video games on the internet."

Not in Education, Employment or Training or in short NEET. Mir found it was hard to believe that Orb would recruit such a person into its military.

"Sure, he has problems with authority every other day but he still follows orders given and his piloting and gunnery skills are probably among the best," Erica continued before wincing when Stellar's Spitfire was knocked on the ground, causing a small tremor. A second later, the ground trembled again as the other Spitfire straddled Stellar's Spitfire, signaling the end of the match.

"It is the attitude, not aptitude that determines the altitude."

"True enough," Erica conceded. "Still, I'm rather surprised that he volunteered to with the ship to replace the other four pilots."

"I'm relieved that they will have a chance for a decent live after all that they have gone through, especially Stellar."

"I've heard," Erica said as the two Spitfires began leaving the battle area. "Not to give you false hope or anything, but a doctor friend of mine believes that she can be weaned off the drugs through replacement therapy. However, that doesn't mean her mental age will be on par with other people instantly and she will lose the ability to pilot."

"If it can give her a semblance of a life, then I think it's more than fair."

"But why didn't you and your boyfriend stay behind as well?"

"Unlike the four of them, the two of us are in the military by our own choice," Mir answered. Both she and Tolle entered the military after graduating from the school because they wanted to make a difference in the war. Still, she had to admit at that time, she wasn't sure that they had made the right choice. But she was quite certain that leaving the four pilots to undergo rehabilitation and subsequently reintegration into the society was the right thing to do.

* * *

"Welcome back, Zala," Talia said, seated inside her office. "The trip's gone well, I presume?"

"Yes, ma'am." Athrun said as he presented with a small package. "A souvenir for you."

"Oh, you shouldn't have." The gift was duly accepted and set to the left side of the table.

"I should. It's courtesy."

"No, you don't get it," the captain said with her fingers intertwined in front of her serious face. "You shouldn't have because officially you were on a recon mission. If you go around dispensing gifts like Santa Claus, what will other people think?"

Athrun's eyes widened. "I just thought…"

"Have you given the presents to everybody else?"

He looked downward in regret. "I did."

"Good."

Athrun raised his eyes in surprise. "Huh? But I thought…"

"Sometimes the best way to confuse cunning people is to be oneself."

"Oh." Despite being relieved at his commander not being mad at him, Athrun couldn't help but feeling that he had been slighted by the comment but he couldn't put a finger on why he felt that way.

"So, the one thing that I asked you to observe while in Orb?"

"Yes… er," Athrun brought out his tablet, "according to my observation, there's a lot of civilian trucks moving in and out of the main city though I'm not sure where they were going."

"No. That's information is enough," Talia said as she rapped the table with her fingers. Orb's cyber defense was quite formidable to actually foiled Meyrin's hacking attempts but the country was so confident that it could cover everything up that they had let in Athrun into the country to show that there was nothing going on. Since Athrun didn't see anything out of ordinary besides the part she told him to observe, it seemed that they had done their homework. However, it was quite hard to hide movements of supplies even though they had tried to disguise the trucks. "The ship will be moving soon, sooner than I expected and would have liked. But…"

"But?"

"The timing is too fast. Think about it, even though Orb is forced to send out the ship, it has to have a mission.

"Maybe they would be sent out as peacekeepers to stop the fight between us and Alliance? After all, right now they have the advantage of fielding NFWJ."

"Please don't insinuate Orb's military planners as idiots, Zala. Even if they have no-face white jackass, you wouldn't seeing it interfering in a battle, disabling both sides' mobile suits while its pilot shouted out some selfish idealistic quotes or attacking every side in order to force everyone to work together to fight it. Even if it comes to that, let me tell you that such useless action wouldn't stop the conflict. Stopping military conflict is like unraveling a complicated knot."

"Sun Bin."

"Good. You know your history well."

Know the history, he did. Sun Bin was a famous strategist who lived 2500 years ago had written his own treatise on war strategy and tactics. "So you're saying that Orb trying to interfere directly with the current war with its own military might is just like trying to unravel the knot using a fist?"

"Yes. World politics is more fluid than such a single dimension kind of thinking. If Orb really wants to stop the war, it cannot hope to end it by entering into the fray. It wouldn't be effective, just like pouring water into a raging forest fire when the best for containing it is maybe through controlled deforestation around the fire area to deny fuel to it. From your information, I think that they have found out 'that' other method"

Athrun understood what was being said but he felt that something was a bit off. From the way Captain Talia said it, he had the impression that she wanted Orb to succeed in whatever it was going to do.

* * *

"Come," Kira said he held out a hand to her in what he thought to be a gentlemanly manner to the redhead girl in front of him, "A few more minutes and we'll arrive at the place."

Flay took his hand but only held it fleetingly. "You have yet to say why this place is so special."

"It is a very special spot just for the occasion and not many people know about it." He left his bird pet behind on purpose so that only the two of them would be at the place.

The girl who was holding his hand, grinned. "Oh? I get it. So if you suddenly decide to ravish me, there wouldn't anyone around to help me, would they?"

"Wha?" Kira uttered as he pulled his hand while taking a step backward. "No, no! I'm not thinking about you like that! I don't have anything for you..." he stopped when he noticed her stare, "I feel something but, well, at the same time I'm not thinking that although I did picture you in a swimming suit..." He was stopped when he heard a melodious giggle.

"I was kidding," Flay said. "I know that you're not that kind of person, Kira."

"_Even if I am that kind of person, you'll kick me so hard that just like the last time."_ The young man thought to himself.

"Are you thinking about me being violent, Mr. Yamato?"

"No! Of course not!" he said hurriedly. He then quickly changed topic in order to avoid another question that was due next. "Um, I want this to be a surprise, so can I blindfold your eyes?"

Flay didn't answer immediately, leading Kira to conclude that his request was shot down and thus surprised him when she gave the answer. "Okay."

The two kept walking until they reached the designated place. After Kira has sat Flay down, he removed her blindfold. The redhead let out a gasp as she took the view of Orb city from the hill where the two on "Kira…"

"Yes?"

"This setting…. This…"

"Yes? Yes?" Kira said, eager than before.

"This is surprisingly corny," Flay finished flatly.

Kira chuckled in disappointment as his attempt to impress the girl next to him failed. "I know," he admitted. Even though he had just entered college, he didn't have that much of money to spend on a 'proper' date since the allowance he received from his parents was just enough to cover his normal expenditure. He could have asked for more but he didn't want to trouble them. So, being a dirt poor student, he brought her at his special place, a place he stumbled upon when he was small for a low cost date.

"It is good that you know it," the girl said as she put her hand on Kira's, startling him out of self misery, "Because I really like it and appreciate it." She closed the distance between the two of them.

Kira's mind was so distracted by the mental firework that was caused by her kiss that he didn't notice the real one painting the sky in front of them as Orb celebrated its annual firework festival. Even after she broke their short chaste but sweet contact, he still found himself totally lost for words and all he could do was notice her flushed face before his attention shifted down a little bit to the very same lips he had just tasted seconds before.

Feeling bashful Flay turned away. "Now don't get any strange ideas. The kiss is just my way of saying thank you."

"Ok…" he responded, barely able to form the word.

He didn't see redhead smiling before she turned to see the firework display. "They're beautiful."

"Yeah… and whenever I'm in Orb, I'll go here to view them from this place, you know a special spot just for the occasion."

"Thank you for bringing me here,"

"My pleasure."

The two continued their firework watching in silence as both of them were occupied with their respective thoughts. Eventually, it was Kira who spoke first after the last of the fireworks exploded. "I heard that Archangel would be leaving."

"Yes," Flay confirmed.

"You as well?"

She nodded.

"To war." It was a statement, not a question.

Flay nodded again.

"Why?" Kira asked again, not satisfied with the answer he was getting, "I thought that the ship is supposed to be surrendered to Orb and the team to be disbanded."

"It seems that was not meant to be,"

"You know something, didn't you?" he asked, slight anger creeping into his voice.

"Kira, do you realize what you're asking to know?" Flay asked back in a silent manner. "You have the perfect chance to walk away, to return back to your previous life, being together with your family! Do you really want to find out the answer that will distort your life?"

"When I met you, my life was already distorted. I already killed someone, remember?"

"I never forget about that. But at that time, you had no choice but to protect those kids!"

"Then why do _you_ fight?" Kira asked, his voice rising a bit. "Don't tell me that you want to kill more Coordinators!"

"But that's true!"

"You're lying!"

"Kira, do you remember that you said that if everyone understands each other, there will be no war?"

"Yes. It was what late Reverend Malchio taught me."

"Tell me then, what will happen if people understood each other but they still fight?"

"That wouldn't happen."

"Actually, that is why your late Reverend Malchio's teaching is a bit fallacious. People have been using their understanding of other people to get rid them. It's already happening since time immemorial and has a name: military strategy and tactic."

Kira felt uncomfortable for his belief to be brought out in the open and hacked into bits but he felt that Flay was about to say something important so he held his peace. She turned to him, opened her mouth but then closed it and hung her head. "Kira, what will you do now that you're back here?"

He shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. "Anything except join the war, I guess."

"Because war is evil?"

"It's not right to fight to kill people."

"Even if it means letting your enemy kill you and everyone you care about?"

"I will protect them," Kira said simply. "But I wouldn't join the war because I don't need the power."

He didn't see the slap aimed at his face which had quite a bit of power on it. Slightly dazed, he put a hand on his stinging cheek while looking at the girl who slapped him. Flay had stood up, anger on her face. "Did you realize how stupid you sounded just now? Will without power is nothing." She pointed at him. "You know what? I think you're scared of the war, not because you hate it."

Kira stood up as well and wanted to grab her hand but instead found his hand being twisted around, ending with him being forced to kneel.

"See?" Flay said, "You don't have the will to use your power whereas I use both." She then released the hold as the point was already made.

"But power will corrupt!"

"Correction: power can corrupt," the redhead replied, "Even the power to end the war," she said as she began walking down.

"Power… to… end the war?" he tested.

Flay stopped. "Spectrum," she said simply.

"Spectrum?"

"You haven't realized it even though the two of us have been controlling it?" she said in incredulous tone before chuckling. "Well, don't worry about that. With or without you, the war will still go on and many people will be killed. If you don't want to fight then it's fine. Just don't spout nonsense about protecting everyone without doing anything. It is an insult to everyone who has died due to this war."

Once again he felt his cheek. "Sorry."

She sighed at his voice; it sounded like an irresistible plea. Flay turned back to walk to him. "Look Kira, I agreed to come here with you just to, you know, spend some time relaxing together… so maybe we can do that by not talking about the war and instead talk about something else?"

Kira couldn't help himself from smiling and nodded. "Yeah. Let's try again. Once again, I'm sorry."

Flay put her hand on his reddish cheek, caressing it. "Me too," she said before she kissed it.

* * *

"A little more to the left… left…" Murdoch said over his communication set to an operator whose crane was transporting a mobile suit leg into Archangel's portside hangar.

There was a small crashing sound as the leg hit the ship's wall a bit and the man let out very colorful expletives which was quite audible to Murrue from a distance. How's everything?" she asked when she was next to him.

"Peachy, though I really wonder how they could put a stupid idiot on a crane job," Murdoch replied gruffly. "You know, they're Orb and well, you expect Orb guys to be very skilled, you know, just like the story you heard about them."

"No one's perfect."

The man snorted. "Well, don't claim if you can't deliver, I always said that." He then changed the subject. "Heard about the mission. Thinks that it's a wild goose chase."

Murrue smiled reluctantly. "We have a good reason to believe the info and Orb had used a lot of its intelligence assets to have them confirmed." It was a sanitized way of saying that a lot of Orb agents had died to ensure the veracity of the information.

A female Orb pilot saluted at them while passing through them. "How about the fate of the four PIXIEs?"

"Attha agreed to take care of them as well as Stellar's special case. They're quite angry at being left here while Mir will be with us but she had thoroughly explained the situation to them and they managed to accept the situation." She gestured at a group of four people leaving the ship. "There they are. Probably finished saying goodbye to Mir. They wanted to be here for the departure but they have to be in Scandinavian by Tuesday for treatment."

"I hope the best for them. Well, still have work to do. See ya," Murdoch said while moving to shout at some random personnel.

Murrue watched him did his work before shifting her attention to the docked Archangel. Yes. There was still a lot of work to finish and even that was just the beginning.

* * *

Sitting idly on a swing, Kira wondered about what Flay had said to him as children were playing around happily with their parents watching over them. It was almost easy to forget that the whole world was in the middle of a war watching them playing in peace.

Kira noticed a young girl was eyeing the swing he was sitting forlornly and got up to leave; he had something else to do anyway. He walked past a house where a man around his age was in the middle of talking to his family. The man was probably going abroad to study or something, he thought.

Flay had said that it wasn't wrong not to fight but did that mean he shouldn't feel guilty living in peace? Sure, the war had yet to escalate into full conflict and all sides were wary of targeting civilians but it would be a matter of time before a bomb dropped on a city or a missile pierce into a colony. What should he do?

"_Trust yourself!"_ a young girl's voice inside his head. _"You already know the answer." _An obscure memory of a young girl with pink hair smiling encouragingly popped up.

"Maybe Murdoch was right; I need to see a psychiatrist," he muttered.

* * *

A young man stiffened a bit as his mother hugged him in front of their house.

"I'm going to miss you, Shinn," the mother sniffed before breaking the embrace.

"Mom, stop it. You're embarrassing me," Shinn complained.

"Be careful, son and contact us whenever you can," his father said from the side.

"Yeah, if possible. Sorry I can't say much about my mission. The only thing I'm allowed to tell you is that I'll be out of this country for a while."

"We understand, Shinn," his mother who had moved next to his father said.

Shinn nodded and turned toward the last family member who had been quiet all the while. "You're crying because your cool brother is going away?"

"As if," Mayuri, his sister scoffed. "Nothing's cool about being an idiot bent on collecting magical girl figurines. Loser, yes, but not cool"

Shinn rolled his eyes. "I don't need to hear that from someone who has yet to beat me in any game."

"Playing game is useless!"

"See? You even suck at being useless!"

"Why you…"

Mayuri was about to launch into a tirade when her brother patted her head fondly.

"Take care," Shinn said.

"Um… you too." Mayuri reached into her bag, fished out her mobile phone and handed it to him. "As something to remember us by."

Shinn stuck out his tongue at his sister, "Like I'll be caught dead bringing that pink monstrosity to everywhere I go."

"Huh, I guess I'm the mature one after all," Mayuri said while pouting. "Lolicon," she muttered while turning away.

"What was THAT?"

There was a honking sound from a nearby military transport. Shinn looked at it and then at his family. "I guess I'll be seeing you," he said while bowing a bit before walking away.

* * *

"I still say that the mission's pretty pointless" Mwu said to himself as he oversaw the last of the supplies being loaded to the ship. "Looks like everyone and everything's on board and there's not going to be a going away ceremony or something so…" he trailed.

Murrue was already onboard as well as most of the ship's crew. He looked at his watch. It was the time to depart and he strode toward the planks leading to Archangel's entrance.

"Wait!" someone called out.

Mwu stopped in his stride and turned toward the person. "Oh, it's you, brat. What do you want?"

* * *

Cagalli skipped to the main door of the medium-size house happily. She had finished helping her father and so was granted some time off, the time that she would use to force her brother to bring her out to shop. Oh, how she would use him like a mule to carry her things, she thought with glee as she pressed the doorbell. And since she appeared in front of him without any notice, Kira would have no way to run. That would teach him to ditch her to go out with his ZAFT boyfriend.

The door opened and Caridad Yamato, Kira's adoptive mother appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, is Kira around?"

Caridad had a puzzled look on her face. "I thought you're the first one to know."

Cagalli felt her blood curdled. "Know what?"

A short explanation later found her screaming her brother's name heavenward, swearing to beat him up when she got the chance.

* * *

Philip narrowed his eyebrows as he pondered over the information. Few days prior he encountered a ZAFT ship in the middle of nowhere not doing anything whatsoever and after he had chased it away, what did he get for the effort? A ship belonging to Phantom Pain in the middle of nowhere not doing anything whatsoever.

He had established communication with the ship, but the ship only opened a voice channel, not allowing him to see the face of the ship's female captain. Admittedly, Philip was very curious; after all she rudely told him that he had no business inquiring about Blue Cosmos' activities, warned him not to interfere in the ship's mission and terminated the communication before he could retort back. It was a good thing he was far from being a very 'expressive' man in his younger but he still felt irked by the who situation.

"Still nothing?" he asked his CIC operator.

"We have confirmation of IFF status of the ship being one of ours, but that's about it. Nothing in the database."

So, at the very least he knew that he was talking to the captain of the 'Flying Dutchman' and it belonged to his own military.

"What do you think we should do about this ship, _Loop_?" he asked his flag adjutant.

"Well, I think we should detain it."

Philip grinned. "But we're dealing with Phantom Pain here, you know, 'one of us' even though I myself often wonder about that. All of us could get into trouble for provoking them, you know."

"But how can we get into trouble attacking something that doesn't exist?" she answered coyly

"Sir," the CIC operator called out. "I'm sorry but the IFF database developed some bugs. Some of enemy ships have been incorrectly labeled as friendlies," he reported with a knowing smile. "It will take quite some time to recover from it."

"Damn," Philip growled pretentiously. "That means we have to detain the ship just to check whether it's really one of ours."

* * *

"**What do you mean the gambit failed?"** Mwu, who face on the main screen was clearly frowning, asked. **"I thought I told you to sound smug and arrogant, you know, just like a Phantom Pain commander is supposed to sound like. Maybe you forget the insults as well?" **

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be _that _bitchy." Murrue murmured while looking away. "I forgot to enroll in Bitchiness 101 class when they offered it last year."

The blonde ace grinned and shook his head. **"Well, it was much of a stretch to believe that we can get away without a fight anyway. Permission for the mission, **_**Captain?**_**"** he asked, emphasizing her new rank given by Orb military.

"Permission, granted."

* * *

"They're launching a mobile suit and a fighter at us despite our telling them not to do anything?" Philip asked in incredulous tone.

"Yes sir," the CIC operator confirmed. "One of it is Skygrasper though the other is an unknown. Both of them moving at Mach 1."

Philips remembered the article that he read about the attack on ZAFT's base. "The mobile suit's one of ours?"

"The IFF broadcasted code doesn't match ours."

"Send out a warning broadcast to the two."

A minute later, a FX-535 Thunderstrike pilot flipped off the safety button and activated the attack sequence. "This is Wildcat, weapons hot," he reported to the CIC operator onboard a nearby Airborne Early Warning System, or in short AEWS, as the targeting computer showed that it had aimed at a faraway target designated 'Rogue-2'. There was 'Rogue-1', a hostile Skygrasper but his order wasn't to engage it; his wingman would. "Target locked," he added as the computer had achieved a firing solution.

"**Roger Wildcat. Switch to networked guidance."**

"Roger, switching to networked guidance." The missiles would not be guided solely by his aircraft radar but also from instead by the AEWS. That would allow the missiles to have their flight changed for tactical maneuverability.

The pilot switched on a private channel between him and his wingman. "Well, what do you, know, _Cookie_, we're actually shooting something today."

"**Yea, but we're shooting our own planes, for god's sake," **_Cookie _replied. **"And would you knock it off with that call sign? **

"But that's your call sign."

"**I still don't know the dumb fuck who assigned Cookie as my callname."**

"Cookie, you know that will not change anything, Cookie," Wildcat said teasingly.

Before Cookiecould reply, the AEWS's CIC operator's voice came back on line. **"Weapon's free, I repeat, weapon's free."**

"Well, Cookie_, _you heard 'em," Wildcat said as he pressed the trigger. There four clicking sounds, and two seconds later, four missiles launched into the horizon followed by another four. "And there they go."

"**Wildcat, Cookie. Banzai and Sundance are en route to rendezvous with you. After they've joined up, move in and intercept."**

"Roger." The pilot chuckled. "There you have, it, Cookie."

* * *

"Fox Three," Mwu announced as the computer onboard his Skygrasper activated the electronic countermeasure system to confuse the radar-guided missiles aimed at it and Spectrum. The jamming succeeded as the missiles lost their guidance and remained in their current trajectory instead of adjusting to intercept the two of them Spectrum. But the victory was short-lived when the missiles had reacquired them. "Whoa! We have to take them down!"

"**We're on it," **Mir said as Spectrum moved in front of Skygrasper and fired off its beam CIWS continuously at the incoming missiles.

As Spectrum destroyed the missiles one by one, Mwu couldn't help but compare the new combination of pilot and gunner controlling it with the previous crew. Mir and that new brat were trained by the military despite and represented what could be considered among the best in North Atlantic and Orb. The other brat Yamato wasn't even not properly trained to hold a pistol, despite his traitorous partner's experience while his partner was only half-trained in combat.

Because of that, he had expected to see improved performance from the mobile suit. Yes, the weapon targeting was more accurate and the shots hit their targets more often but at the expense of fluidity in movement. He had seen Mir pilot Spitfire and he could see that she managed to control Spectrum to almost the same degree. However, it couldn't compare to the performance displayed earlier. If he had to say so, the mobile suit seemed lethargic in its movement.

Mwu was a pragmatist man, however, so he didn't care whether it could do tango or not as long as it did its job well.

"All right, people. You know the drill. Mir and whatisname… You're to cripple the carrier or inflict significant damage to it."

"**Shinn! Shinn Asuka!" **a male voice chirped irritatedly. "**At the very least remember my name." **

Mwu released flares to confuse a pursuing missile of his fighter. "Right. If it can't be done, attack the carrier's bridge. That's where the command's located."

"**Roger." **Mir answered.

"Good luck, Mir, Shawn."

"**Shinn!" **

Meanwhile, Mwu would take on the scrambled aircrafts all by himself. He grinned nervously. While it seemed like an impossible mission to take on more agile fighters with his own slower but more heavily armed Skygrasper, it was something that he could pull off; making something impossible possible.

* * *

"They're going to fight off the whole carrier?" Kira asked, not believing what he was seeing on the screen on the main bridge of Archangel. "That's insane!"

"It's not like we have a choice," Murrue answered in a clipped tone. "Besides, they're just to keep the fleet busy until we've put considerable distance with us and the carrier's effective range. Then, we don't have to worry about them sending the whole squadron at us."

"But we're," Kira corrected himself, "you're fighting against your own people."

"And that's what having a conviction is all about," Murrue was still wondering whether letting the young civilian stowaway onboard was a right thing to do. She could argue that she couldn't turn the ship back after finding out about him and she could also blame Mwu for not telling her about him until it was too late but she had condone the act but not doing anything. It felt a bit pretentious of her to be lecturing to him about conviction when she's had swayed in her judgment in letting him stay.

* * *

Mwu dove his Skygrasper right in the middle of the fighters' formation and instantly chased after one of the four fighters. As he had predicted, the pilots had high combat training in fighting dissimilar enemy units but then whoever their instructor was, it certainly wasn't him. If it wasn't him, he would have taught them that the best way to fight a clustered group of enemy was from the inside of their formation.

He quickly settled on a nearest aircraft, trying to align his fighter with it. Since he had an initial advantage, he preferred to save his missiles and instead engage in basic dogfight. However his target decided not to cooperate and initiated break. The Thunderstrike turned sharply across his Skygrasper to increase angel of tail. While the move exposed the aircraft to Skygrasper's aircraft for a split second, the tradeoff gained by the maneuver was that Mwu's aircraft overshoot away from the aircraft.

Mwu wasn't an ace in name only and he easily countered the move by executing a barrel roll. His Skygrasper performed a helical roll that achieved a virtual 90 degrees turn using all three dimensions in the direction opposite of the roll. While still in the middle of the roll, the warning computer beeped as another Thunderstrike had entered the fray and tried a sneak attack on him while he was occupied with the first one. He quickly locked on it via his helmet mounted display and pressed the trigger button to release a missile from the left wing pylon. As his Skygrasper exited the roll with the nose pointing in the direction of the first Thunderstrike, the missile came to live and sought the second one.

In a span of few seconds, two Thunderstrikes were shot down, one by a missile and one by cannon fires in just a few seconds.

The attack shocked the remaining pilots because such an outcome was very improbable. Even though Skygrasper was more advanced than Thunderstrike, its numerous weaponries and resulting loss of speed made it more suited to ground attack compared to Thunderstrike whose maneuverability made it the best aircrafts in dogfights, even against mobile suits. Yet, the Skygrasper pilot simply tore away the aerial dogfight manual tactics that they have learned and began rewriting it.

* * *

As his custom F-535X Raven, a matt black heavily modified Thunderstrike, was being elevated to the launch platform, Sven Cal Bayan pulled his gloves and tightened them. According to the short briefing he had before, an enemy mobile suit was coming in to attack the fleet. Defensive measures had been deployed but merely succeeded in delaying it from attacking. Also, the fleet had already lost six fighters, one to the mobile suit and five to its accompanying Skygrasper.

Henceforth, his mission was to shoot it down or at least ensure that it couldn't get near enough to inflict some damage on the fleet.

He went through the final check as his fighter was guided toward the linear catapult. "Final check completed," he reported as linear catapult's capacitors began to store energy for the system.

"**Roger, Astroboy. You're cleared to launch anytime."**

A small box on his helmet mounted display indicated that the catapult had stored enough energy to launch him. "Astroboy, launching," he said as he pressed the launch system. Everything seemed to be propelled forward at very high speed and at the end of the runaway, he engaged boosters to help build up enough lift to take off.

Astroboy. What an ironic call sign, since it was an already buried ambition of his when he was very small to become an astronomer.

The black Raven climbed away, eager to swoop on its incoming prey.

* * *

"Not bad, Asuka," Mir said as a fighter careened out of control, its left wing clipped by a hit from Spectrum's beam rifle.

"Hmph," Shinn said in a bored voice as he aimed at an incoming missile, "I've already got the hang of this thing. It isn't as impressive as you made it out to be." He pressed the trigger and the missile threatened them no more.

He was skilled, Mir had to admit, but that wasn't enough to stop a growing dislike at his bratty personality. "You haven't seen anything yet. There's supposed to be alternate modes for this mobile suit, something that I haven't been able to activate not for the lack of trying."

"Yea, right…" the designated gunner drawled.

Mir wanted to say something in response to the cavalier remark but the computer beeped as an enemy fighter entered rather range.

"New target?" Shinn asked, his interest rising.

The signal faded into obscurity, perplexing Mir. "Probably a malfunction." She tried again to find the signal but it didn't turn out.

"Wow… the super-duper secret mode is for the radar to display phantom enemy. How very cool… super cool."

"Shut up… Asu…" Mir's voice stopped in her throat as a black fighter dropped to Spectrum's left.

"What the fuck…" Shinn said, not believing what had just happened.

The black fighter flew by Spectrum's side as the pilot signaled with his right hand.

"What is he saying?" Shinn asked, knowing that the signals meant something but he didn't know what it was.

"He's asking us to purge our weapons and surrender," Mir replied.

"And what if we don't want to surrender?"

As if knowing what Shinn had asked, the pilot signaled again.

"If we don't," Mir translated, "he'll blow us to smithereens."

"As if!" Shinn said as Spectrum raised its rifle to shot at the fighter but it had already rolled out of the way.

* * *

Sven had arrived just in time to see the white mobile suit fight of the last of the Thunderstrikes sent to intercept it and had a generally good idea about its capability. One of the things his flight instructor had drilled into him was that a mobile suit's weapon could be aimed anywhere unlike a fighter's cannon which required him to aim the aircraft's nose at the enemy. That was a huge disadvantage against for him but the ability to aim anywhere wasn't without its own weaknesses. In order to aim accurately, a mobile suit had to remain suspended in the air and would be open to attack.

While the white mobile suit seemed to be capable of firing even while on the move, it couldn't shoot accurately. Hence it would still have to pause in order to fire. And that small window was what he utilized as Raven dove from the clouds at the unsuspecting white mobile suit.

* * *

"Shit," Shinn cursed as the fighter rolled out of crosshair before he could even get a lock. "Can't you still Spectrum for a moment?" he growled at Mir.

"If we don't move, we're going to get it," Mir replied as Spectrum swerved to avoid a stream of auto-cannon fire.

The black fighter moved into the cloud again. There was a radar reading but both Mir and Shinn had learned not to trust it. The fighter had some sort of a cloaking device that allowed it remained invisible to radar. She had thought to try other methods to detect it such as through seeking radar radiation but it seemed that the fighter didn't utilize any active detection which meant it was supposed to be fighting blind like them as well.

She detected a movement just in time to change Spectrum's course in midair. However a shot had hit its linear rifle and Shinn managed to release it before it exploded and tore half of the cockpit away.

"Damn!" Mir let out her own curse.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (28 August 2010)**

1. It's been a while since I last updated; been busy with stuffs and whatnot.

2. While I do enjoy answering questions, I think it's best I preempt some of the questions:

a. Sadly, the chapter ended in a cliffhangar. Not because I really enjoy it (okay, I do to some extent) but because finishing everything will take a longer time and I don't want to lose the momentum I've built so far.

b. Why Kira's not in the Spectrum this time? Well, it's too much of a stretch to believe that any adult would allow him to pilot Spectrum just because he's the first one to do so, not when there's a properly trained military pilot, i.e. Mir that had learned to control it. Remember, Kira is still a civilian and you don't see any soldiers handing assault rifle to any civilian and ordering him to shoot unless there was a compelling reason to do so. However, as you can see, there's a difference in Spectrum's performance given the change in duty roster.

c. About Shinn Asuka, it's an AU after all but what would happen if his family weren't killed? If you recall his monologue in GSD, he mentioned that he was more interested in new video games. That points out to the fact that he could have become a hikimori, someone who's reclusive and didn't care much for the society as a whole.

Have a good day!


	8. Hypocrites

"Spectrum is fighting against a prototype?" Mwu asked through the communication link as he jockeyed his Skygrasper into a series of aerial rodeo to shake off two aircrafts on his tail. "That's really worrying." He mentally counted through the number of enemies he was facing. It seemed that there were six pilots who wanted to paint his Skygrasper as a very pretty kill logo on their respective aircrafts. A stream of bullets missed his cockpit mere centimeters and he had to revise his count to seven pilots out to get him. "Okay, I'm working on it. Tell them to hang in there."

"**But they're in trouble," **Abby, the CIC officer whom he had pegged as having very slim body, said in a worried manner.

Mwu exchanged shots with what seemed to be the leader of the group but none of them hit each other. He engaged the airbrake, feeling the full force of deceleration hit his body. A Thunderstrike behind him overshot; the pilot seemed to be a rookie. A short burst and the aircraft's tail caught fire. Mwu barely saw the canopy being blasted away and the ejection seat being deployed as he was busy acquiring the next target. "I'll be there shortly, I think." The computer screamed warnings as somebody had managed to lock on to his aircraft. "Or maybe you can send someone to bail them out first?"

"**Archangel is under attack and we're having our hands full defending it," **she said her image shook a bit.

"Oh, that's pretty troublesome," he said as Skygrasper's active missile defense calculated the projected path of the missile and fired off few small canisters into the surrounding area where the missile passed through. They then exploded, saturating the area with fragments just as the missile was passing through. Damaged by the fragments and thrown of course but the resulting shockwave, it ceased to function and its electronic brain decided to commit suicide to prevent accidents.

A smug look appeared on Mwu's face for a long time; as long as for him to find out that there were another two missiles on his tail which after the first missile exploded. "Archangel, can you tell them that I'll require some time to get there?"

"**How long?"**

He barely shot down the missiles before they got close enough. "Dunno, maybe for a long, long time?"

* * *

The bridge of Archangel shook from time to time as its complement of Skygraspers and Spitfires fought off a squadron of fighters in the airspace above it but as the leader of a fully-trained crew, Murrue knew that calm was of utmost importance.

"We have multiple SSMs bearing our course," Romero Pal announced while tracking multiple red triangles denoting surface to surface missiles on the ship's radar. "Tracking eight of them."

"Shot them down!" Murrue commanded.

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

One by one, eight Orb-built Raiya interceptor missiles blasted out of the recently installed revolving launcher onboard the ship. While Archangel still had its CIWS operational, experience gained fighting against Minerva revealed the inadequacy of the system. While its designers had believed that the CIWS could function well in space and in earth, it was proven to be otherwise. Software recalibration carried out had improved its accuracy but the lack of ability to engage multiple targets hampered its effectiveness. Hence Morgenroete upgraded it and added the ability to launch its 'Lightning Arrow' missiles.

The missiles met their hostile counterparts and explosions blotted the sky.

It was as she had predicted: the CSG's admiral would attack Archangel using its fighters while sneaking in a few surface-to-surface missiles while Archangel's defenders were busy fighting against the fighters. As much as she wanted to retaliate using the same attack, she was wary of doing so. While Archangel could fire all of its missiles at the fleet in a saturation attack thus have a high chance of hitting few of the ships if not the carrier itself, doing so was tantamount to an invitation for the fleet to do the same thing, which would certainly guaranteed her ship's destruction.

Somehow the strategy to escape the CSG seemed valid when she and Mwu considered it but she could see it slowly falling apart.

"Captain," Abby called out. "Allster is in the starboard hangar, requesting permission to launch."

Murrue could see a pattern forming. Last time it was the same thing; the only difference was that she would be flying a Skygrasper. She let out a defeated. "Send her the coordinates."

"Roger."

* * *

It was an interesting fight going against the mobile suit but in the end Sven had managed to outthink its pilot. It moved pretty well for a mobile suit but it wasn't enough to prevent him for slowly chipping away its defense. It would be a matter of time before he would have it on his crosshair and when that happened, the beam minigun his plane was carrying will tore it into shreds, even if it had the so-called invincible Phase Shift armor.

He engaged the airbrake just in time to avoid a beam blast from above him. Frowning a bit, he went through a series of maneuvers to prevent his assailant from getting a lock on him. However, what seemed to be an enemy Skygrasper managed to follow his aircraft all the way. A shot managed to singe his left wing but didn't cause any critical damage to it. The attack, however established the fact to him that the newcomer was not to be taken lightly; that meant he couldn't pursue the retreating white mobile suit, not without risking being shot down himself. No matter, he decided. His primary instruction was to prevent it from attacking the carrier so as long as it was achieved he wouldn't push the matter.

Sven kept dodging but the Skygrapser was still on his tail. Deciding to go on offensive, he locked on unto the Skygrasper and selected an anti-air missile equipped with a radar seeker. A weapon pylon beneath his Raven opened and released a missile. As it cleared away from the pylon, Sven fired off multiple flares. The missile's engine came to life just as the flares started burning, obscuring its presence from the pursuing aircraft.

If Sven had hoped to surprise his opponent with the missile, the hope was for a naught as it was shot down just after it passed through the curtain of flares. But Sven was already moving on to the next movement by engaging airbrake in order to cause the Skygrasper to overshoot. The enemy pilot responded by decreasing the Skygrasper's airspeed as well and in the moment that resulted from that, Sven caught a look at the pilot. It was a young male, probably around his age. The pilot also seemed surprised to see him, judging from the expression on his face.

Then both fighters broke away from each other to resume their dogfight.

* * *

"I thought you're the one who were in the Skygrasper,"Murrue said in an undisguised irritated look.

Flay shrugged. **"I asked for the clearance to launch the Skygrasper, not for me to be there."**

"But Yamato…"

"**War knows no innocence, Captain. It was him who requested to assist Promethe… sorry, Spectrum and…" **Flay glanced around her, **"you know the reason why he does it."**

Of course Murrue knew that Yamato would be flying the Skygrasper to save Tolle's girlfriend who was in quite a danger at that time but that felt wrong. He was a civilian and wasn't supposed to be involved in the whole situation. Yet she sent him out to battle. Sure, she could blame some of it on Allster but Murrue wondered whether she really wanted to stop Kira in the first place, not when the lives of everyone onboard the ship could be forfeited if she refused to let him fight.

"Captain, we have Minerva on radar," Romario announced.

Minerva? What a time to appear, Murrue thought desparingly. Then it hit her.

* * *

"Captain Talia," Bart announced in an excited voice. "We've the Archangel on the radar."

The announcement was supposed to make the captain of Minerva happy but it failed to do so. The ship had received an order to investigate the presence of Archangel in the area. The intelligence provided along with the order stated that ship would be in the approximate location where Bart had located it. While another commander would have been satisfied, Talia was a paranoid woman to simply accept it. It was too easy.

Due to the ongoing war, both Alliance's and ZAFT's intelligence had been eroded greatly. Any satellite that didn't belong under the control of Deep Space Survey and Development Organization or referred to as DSSD, a neutral organization that had observers from both sides, would be quickly shot down, often before they could get into proper orbit. While ZAFT could spy on Earth from observatories built on PLANTs, the colonies being suspended in the Lagrange orbit prevented them for yielding highly detailed information.

Hence, there was no way normal intelligence could have provided such information. Yes, it could be gained through conventional clandestine method but then there was the problem of communicating it in a timely manner.

"Captain," Meyrin called out. "Archangel is trying to establish laser communication with us. What should we do?"

'_Laser communication? Why would they use laser communication and for what reason?' _Talia thought to herself, confused by what was happening. The answer slapped her hard. "DAMN IT!" she swore as she slammed her fists on the armrests.

"Captain?" Meyrin asked, confused by the outburst.

"We have been screwed," Talia said with gritted teeth. "Put it through and broadcast the whole transmission throughout the ship. I want everyone to listen to it."

"**Good afternoon, Captain Talia," **Murrue greeted her.

"Just get to the point," Talia snorted.

"**Very well. We would like to request for your help in the fight against the Alliance CSG."**

"And why will we help you? The last time I remember, we're trying to sink each other."

Murrue smiled but the smile was mirthless. **"At the present rate of the enemy attack, Archangel will only last five minutes more before I'm forced to seek another alternative."**

Talia growled. "You… you… dare do such a despicable thing?"

Murrue's expression turned serious, but there was a tinge of regret in her eyes. **"Yes. If there is no answer from you in the time given, or your ship changed your vector, then I consider you rejected my offer. Good day," **she said as she signed off.

* * *

"Captain Talia?" Arthur asked, not understanding what transpired between the two captains.

"Meyrin, put me through to Commander Zala."

"**Athrun, have you listened to the communiqué?" **Talia asked him.

"Yes, but…"

Yzak's face appeared on another screen. **"Captain, don't tell me we're going to help those bastards? I would never accept it even if you throw me into the brigs."**

"**I agree with you, Joule," **Talia conceded, "**I can order you to sortie but if you wouldn't do it, it wouldn't happen."**

"**Damn right you are." **

"**So, that's why I'm letting all of you, the Redcoats decide whether we help Archangel or let it destroy us."**

"**Huh?"**

Dearka's face replaced Talia's on the screen. **"I think I got it. Yzak. Archangel is an Alliance ship, right?"**

"**So? That doesn't mean anything since it was fighting against its own faction."**

"**Think about it, Minerva arrives here while the two are fighting so what do you think can happen?"**

"**I got it!"** Nicol chimed in. **"They will have a common enemy!"**

"**Bingo!"** Dearka said.

Athrun also understood what Dearka was trying to say. "Basically, Archangel offered to join up with us in order to fight the CSG. If we don't accept it, then the only course of action left for it is to join up with the CSG to attack Minerva. I think Captain Talia already realized this judging from her response." There was another alternative that he could think of which was for Archangel to surrender but he didn't dare think about it. Archangel and that white no-face must be destroyed.

Yzak's face turned raging red. **"Those bastards!"**

"**And," **Dearka added. **"If the two joined up, we have a hell's chance of escaping."**

"**But by helping Archangel, wouldn't the Alliance think that it is one of ours?" Nicol asked. **

"**Yeah, you got that right but maybe that's why it was attacked in the first place." **

"It wouldn't matter because we know the truth. In fact the situation wouldn't be to the ship's advantage anyway because all Alliance would then shoot upon detection." Athrun added.

"**This changes nothing between us and Archangel," **Yzak remarked, his eyebrows narrowing. It seemed that he had decided to agree to whole operation but there was no mistaking the anger in his eyes.

"It will not," Athrun concurred. "This simply means that we work with them together to escape today; doesn't mean we'll be allies tomorrow." His Aegis changed color from dull grey into bloodstain red and moved to the catapult system. The light changed into green and it blasted away.

* * *

Sven had to respect his opponent. A minute into the two's fight, he already came to an understanding that the pilot wasn't properly trained and relied on pure instinct to fly against him. The Raven pilot counted at least six situations where the pilot had perfect chance to maneuver into a position to shoot him down but failed to do so. Sven even wondered if the pilot even knew that he was performing a Cuban Eight maneuver. He initiated a High Yo-Yo defense maneuver and as he predicted the Skygrasper overshot his fighter.

He had also predicted correctly that the pilot was stunned by what happened and that gave him a precious moment to line up his gun sight against the Skygrasper.

A threat warning tone caused him to abort the attack as a new opponent arrived at the scene. Twice already he had his sight on his targets and twice he had been foiled. Unlike the first time however, the Skygrasper didn't break away and he had two opponents to fight against, which was a bit too much since he had expended much of his munitions as well as almost exhaust the energy storage linked to Raven's beam cannons.

There was no helping the situation he was in so Sven discarded the used pylons connected and left the place at full military power, engaging afterburners just in case the Skygrasper's pilot decided to pursue him. After all, those who fights and run away will live to fight another day.

* * *

"Astroboy had broken off from the fight, sir."

Philip simply nodded. He would have ordered the same thing. The arrival of ZAFT had thrown a wrench into everything. The ship that he had pegged as belonging to a Blue Cosmos was working with ZAFT. That didn't make sense. He had expected ZAFT to attack the ship. After all, wasn't that was the reason for all the stalking being done in the area?

At the present moment, he had to really consider the unlikely possibility that the two were in cohorts and thus react accordingly. If that assumption was true, then taking a defensive approach was the better choice in the current environment. It would allow for the currently engaged fighters to refuel and rearmed while the others would be scrambled to intercept any attempts to attack his CSG.

Philip was a good tactician enough to realize that his fleet wasn't invincible and could be defeated but he still yet to play all his cards on hand even though his opponents had brought out theirs. Excluding the 'wild cards', each one having a nice yellow circle with black three-bladed fan logo painted on it, he still had his submarines. Sure, his ship America could end up being sunk but he would make sure that his opponents would be blown out of water as well. "How about the enemy's movements?"

"They're maintaining a defensive perimeter around their respective ships. As for the ones engaging Second Lieutenant Bayan, they're currently maintaining their position."

Both sides were playing wait and see, with the enemy slowly retreating from the area. "Very well, let them be. We'll react accordingly if required."

"Sir?" his _loop_ asked.

"The whole thing stinks. Phantom Pain' in bed with its mortal enemy, something less likely than the sun rising from the west and setting in the east but yet we're seeing the two working together." It was through experience that Philip learned not to speak up his mind and mention Blue Cosmos instead of Phantom Pain; there was no telling that a crew member might be a member of that wretched elitist group sent to snitch on him.

It was an open secret that Phantom Pain is a highly elite Special Operation team being commandeered by arrogant and smug bastards who seemed to have nightsticks stuck up their rears but very few knew it being a lapdog team for the higher echelons of Blue Cosmos, including normal members of that said organization. Hence, it wasn't that hard to find Blue Cosmos members who hated Phantom Pain for being full of shits as it was.

"Loop, Prepare a fully sanitized report for higher ups,"

"Aye, aye, sir." A report would find itself in the hands of the higher command would contain all information about what happened that day except those that will incriminate everyone on the bridge.

* * *

"**Skygrasper pilot," **the pilot of Aegis announced through open channel as it hovered in its place astride a Guul flyer. **"Archangel and Minerva are temporarily allied so I'm here to provide support to you."**

Kira barely made out what was being said as he was being overwhelmed by the fact the Aegis pilot sounded like his best friend. "A… Athrun?" he asked in a shaky voice.

The pilot didn't respond immediately. "**Kira?"**

Kira felt his heart gripped by a tight vise as the voice merely confirmed what he was dreading to hear. The small image that appeared on the communication screen cemented that fact even further. Athrun Zala was Aegis' pilot. But that meant he was fighting against his own friend all this while.

"**My god, Kira. It is you!"**

"Why?"

"**Why what?"**

"Why are you attacking us?" Kira asked, feeling betrayed. Images of the two of them spending the time together in Orb few weeks prior came back, along with

"**What are you talking about? You attacked us first!"**Athrun countered. **"We're going after Archangel because you launched the attack on us!  
**

"I did not!"

"**Yes you did! I should have known that they could never field Natural pilots to control the mobile suits! God, this is twisted! Kira, have you realized what you had done by being involved?"**

Kira had to look away as he still couldn't come to grips with what happened to Father Malchio and the orphanage at the Marshall Island. "I didn't have a choice…" he muttered.

"**You were forced? Alliance scum!"** Athrun spat. **"Kira, listen! Listen to me! It's not too late. You can join us!"**

"**You would do well rather than to say something that you don't know of," **a female voice interjected.

"Flay!" Kira uttered as Spectrum stood hovering behind Athrun's mobile suit. Spectrum had changed pilot when it returned to Archangel and Flay had came to get him. It was irrational feeling but he couldn't help feeling happy at that thought.

"**You!" **Athrun growled.

Aegis turned to attack Spectrum with a beam saber but the latter held out a hand on the pivoting shoulder, preventing Aegis from completing the turn and completing the attack move. **"You don't grasp the current situation, do you?"**

"**Situation? Oh, I know very well about your mobile suit being a nuclear-powered one,"**

"**Yes and we already know about that and both sides know why you're here. And also…" **Spectrum delivered a very kick to Aegis, knocking it off its Guul unit and at the same time using the momentum to push itself away. Athrun shouted in alarm but he stopped midway when a very powerful blast pass through the exact spot where the mobile suits were hovering seconds before.

"**What happened?" **Athrun asked after Aegis regained control and its Guul unit moved to support it again.

"**Someone shot us from orbit," **Flay answered as Spectrum turned to look upward.

"**Impossible! There's no way a shot could be that accurate. Besides, no one could put such a weapon in orbit without being destroyed!"** With both sides searching for any kind

"There's another mobile suit similar to Spectrum firing at our position," Kira interjected.

"**Huh?" **Athrun asked, puzzled. **"How do you know?"**

Kira didn't have the answer himself.

"**Kira, Flay, return to Archangel at once. We're retreating from the area,"** Abby's voice entered the airwave.

"**Kira," **Flay said in a meaningful way.

Kira wanted to say more but in the end went along with the flow.

* * *

Rey Za Burrel let out an annoyed sigh as a clip ejected from his mobile suit's beam sniper rifle. He had a perfect chance but the mobile suit's pilot somehow had known he was attacking. That would be the only logical explanation to how it reacted at an impossible rate despite being aimed at from behind.

The radar beeped as a nearby Alliance patrol had converged on his area.

No matter, he decided. There would be chances in the future, chances that he wouldn't fail to seize. Gilbert had made it clear that he would let him do as he wished without any interference. So, if he was to destroy the key to Gilbert's plan, the man wouldn't stop him.

However, Rey couldn't help shake the feeling that despite him having control of his own actions and being able to act independently, Gilbert was still manipulating him from behind the shadows.

* * *

Athrun walked along the hangar, watching the repair work being carried on the mobile suits. Captain Talia had deemed that although they had to let Archangel get away, it wouldn't be long before Minerva had another crack at bringing it down.

Just as he was passing through a particle compressor unit, he accidentally tripped on a pair of legs beneath it and fell down face first. There was another crashing sound as the person underneath the compressor had bumped into the unit.

Half an hour later, he found himself withering under the stare from the woman in front of him. He gestured toward an unconscious female on the bed nearby. "Look, Ms. Hawke, it was an accident! I was walking around and tripped on her legs. Then she tried to get up and knock herself up."

"Oh?" Lunamaria responded, eyebrows raised and her hands on her hips. "It looks like you're _blaming_ my cute little sister,"

"No! No! No! I'm just saying that it's the circumstance that led to me causing her to knock herself out."

The elder Hawke sister squint her eyes. "I don't care if you're Zala the Hunk or Attila the Gunk; you do anything to my sister and you're dead meat. Now, since we agreed that it's your fault, you're going to stay here and watch over my little sister while I go and work my murderous intent out of the system."

She then marched out of the room, leaving Athrun with her sister. The man glanced around the place, noting that it wasn't often that he ended up at the infirmary since he and other Coordinators weren't prone to getting sick anyway. As for being injured, well, the chance of him being blown up was marginally higher than being injured.

"Doctor…" he called out but there was no answer. Right, he forgot that Lunamaria chased the doctor and her nurses out with her murderous look when they told her that her sister was only suffering from mild concussion and there wasn't any real reason to worry about.

"I have to apologize for my sister's behavior," a voice from the bed startled him.

Athrun turned his attention at Meyrin. "Can't say I blame her since it's my fault in the first place. Besides, you're acting the same at that time."

Meyrin giggled a bit. "We probably have mother hen trait in our genes."

"Wait… you were conscious all the time she was berating me?"

"Yes."

"Why? That would have lessened the chewing out that I got from your sister."

"Not that much but I would have been chewed out for being clumsy. So, in the end, I decided to remain still and let you get all the blame."

"That's mean of you," Athrun uttered as he allowed himself to slump on a nearby plastic chair. "Wait, now you're awake, what were you doing under the compressor unit?" His face scrunched a bit. "Now that I think of it, that unit belongs to Aegis."

"Oops?"

"No oops, please."

"I'm tinkering with the overall output. If we can get it increased, then we can fix on of the spare Striker units we have onboard to it."

"But Rusty…"

"Please don't say that since your friend is that we shouldn't be using his stuff."

"I have to say it…"

"I don't mean disrespect to your friend, sir but Strike was built by ZAFT for use by ZAFT. Your friend was assigned as its pilot but someone else could have assigned to pilot it."

"But…"

Meyrin hesitated. "This… this is not about your friend Rusty, isn't it? This more about your friend who's onboard Archangel."

She got an accusing stare in return and fidgeted nervously. "It's my duty." Meyrin then collected enough courage to look at him. "You forgot to take care of it. If I didn't snoop around the system, other people would have found out."

"So you admit snooping around…"

Meyrin put a hand on her mouth guiltily.

Athrun sighed. "Did anyone else know about it?"

"No."

"Including Captain Talia?"

Athrun got a nod.

The young man leaned against the wall of the infirmary, relieved. He felt bad having to hide the whole thing about Kira from everyone but he really wasn't prepared to answer to questions that would be inevitably asked if that piece of information ever came to light. In fact, he was still facing self-denial over the whole thing. A close friend whom he had met few weeks ago was working for the enemy responsible for Rusty's death; Athrun couldn't even deny the possibility that Kira was involved in that matter. "Thanks for not telling anyone, Meyrin."

"But how long you're going to keep this as secret?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Kira opened his eyes only to find out that his vision was obscured by strands of hair. He was about to move his right hand to get them out of the way when he realized that he could barely move it. Someone was sleeping on his right side and used his arm as a make shift pillow.

The memory of what transpired the night before returned to him.

Slowly, his shifted his body so that he could look at the person's face. Flay. The enigmatic woman was sleeping peacefully which contrasted the wreck that was her the previous night.

The revelation that Athrun was fighting on ZAFT's behalf had been too much to take and he had been wallowing in depression for more than a day until Murdoch kicked him in the rear. It was a hard kick that sent him stumbling to the floor. He remembered standing up and grabbing the head mechanic, asking what hell the old man thinking.

Murdoch coolly answered that since Kira was feeling sorry for himself, the man was trying to help by giving him even more reason to be more miserable. After all, if Kira really wanted to become an emo, he might as well do it better than his redhead crush.

That piece of information caught Kira's attention swiftly. Seeking clarification, he found out that Flay was acting really weird ever since the battle with the Alliance fleet. Then, someone found her huddled inside Spectrum's cockpit in the middle of the night, muttering gibberish. Whatever it was with her, no one knows. One stray voice even ventured that she was misusing some substance and was suffering from withdrawal symptom since there was a hard line policy on that matter onboard the ship.

Pushing his own personal problem aside, he searched for her in her room and found her lying on her bed, shivering. When he approached her, Flay threw herself into his arms and held him tightly, all the while telling him that she was scared. Kira continued holding to her while cooing softly and saying comforting words. He wasn't sure how long had passed but he must have been holding her for a long time. In the end, she managed to calm down.

And then she kissed him.

The kiss had more passion in it compared to the first one, but had an undertone of desperation and loneliness mixed into it; he wasn't sure why he could feel that way but it was there. While it didn't progress beyond the kiss, the two of them ended up sleeping together at Flay's request.

It really felt nice, waking up to her by his side. Enough to dull the his own heartache over his friend's betrayal.

Andrew handed a folder to Lacus who opened it to digest the content. "Sorry for taking a long time to get the information but you know how hard it is with the whole war going in. The result is just as you suspected: those two meteor's disintegration level weren't normal. I got them checked and it turned out the particles suggested that they were manmade."

"Manmade?" Lacus asked absently.

"If not because of the shape, I would have said that they're drop pods."

"ZAFT has technological advantage in atmospheric reentry," the pink princess commented as she leafed through a page.

Basically, whatever they saw few weeks belonged to ZAFT and Andrew doubted that the things, whatever they were, were for peaceful purposes; else they would have been sent to Earth through normal methods. "So, this is where you're going to decide on something that will make me cringe due to the unreasonableness of the situation but I will agree to it anyway?"

"We need to search for them," Lacus said with a determined look on her face while snapping shut the folder.

Andrew mock shrugged. "I should think changing my job and become a psychic."

* * *

Kira looked around nervously, feeling out of place.

Everyone who somebody onboard Archangel was there, all seated except one who was standing near the projector screen. The day finally came when the real nature of Archangel's mission would be revealed to them. However, not few had their misgivings since the one doing the mission briefing was one Flay Alster, the Blue Cosmos spy whose real allegiance was suspect.

Kira could see that she had recovered enough to put on her mask when with others but he still that it wasn't enough. Whatever issue that she was experiencing was still affecting her and even if she hadn't broken down since that day, he could feel it. Whatever it was, it was very big.

"Everyone's here?" the woman asked, breaking him out of his own thoughts. "If so, then we can proceed with our briefing."

"Wait," Murrue said while raising her hand. "Before you continue on…"

Flay cocked her head. "Are we going to have_ that_ conversation again?"

"No, but I would like to know something."

"Hm? And what would that be?" One moment the captain of Archangel was smiling but the next one found Flay swerving to avoid something thrown at her face. There was a metallic clang behind her as the thing hit the wall. Flay turned her head behind to see a slightly bent can of baked beans coming to a stop after rolling on the floor a bit. "You want to know how to kill me?" she asked drolly.

"Perish that thought," Murrue replied with mirth in her voice. "After all, even before I throw the thing I already know that you will avoid it."

A frown marred the redhead's face. "What are you trying to suggest here?"

The smirk that was forming on the older woman became larger and larger. "Why, Miss Alster, the way you're saying, it's as if you suspect that I'm going to accuse you of being a Coordinator."

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (8th October 2010)**

1. I've put in a poll on my profile page to collect to collect some information about the readers' match-up preference**, **i.e. which person they would like to see Kira end up with. Now, I'm going to flat out say that the poll result will not totally determine this story's final matchup but it would have a significant influence. This poll had been put online since last month and will end when I come out with the next chapter, which would be a milestone of somesort. So if you want to make yourself be heard, please do so. **  
**


	9. The world which was real and yet fake

"Coordinator?" Flay asked while raising her eyebrows.

"Pretending not to hear me wouldn't help establish otherwise," Murrue said smugly, confident that the whole thing was in favor.

"I assume you have proofs for such a baseless assumption?"

"Will the multiplexed brainwave patterns displayed by you suffice?" Archangel used to carry PIXIE pilots who were conditioned beyond normal so it was important to keep track of their wellbeing; hence the brainwave scanning among other things. It was a just a normal procedure when they scanned Allster's brain when they took her and Yamato into the custody and she didn't go through it the first time but after seeing the way Izumi interacted with the redhead, she considered the possibility. "It is higher than expected from you, a Blue Cosmos member."

"That is quite interesting, Captain, but I'm sure the result is inconclusive."

"How about your psychomotor tests then? Maybe the simple fact that you can control a mobile suit optimized for a Coordinator to control?" The previous battle had revealed that 'Shawn' and Mirriallia's pairing wasn't as optimum as she thought it to be.

"Fluke?" Flay shrugged. "Besides, you're missing the big picture here. If I'm really a Coordinator, then why would I join Blue Cosmos, the enemy of all Coordinators?"

Murrue had expected such counterarguments. Trying to raise doubt about her identity by manipulating everyone's negative perception of her; it was a clever move, judging by small subconscious nodding by some inside the room. But she had prepared a trap for such manipulation. "Very well, then…"

"Maybe I should undergo NCDNA-Heterochromatin marker test to prove that I'm not a Coordinator?"

Murrue's eyes widened at the unexpected answer. Non-Coding DNA Heterochromatin test was the absolute test to determine whether someone was a Coordinator or not by identifying the non-coding strands of DNA. While Coordinators may have different genes that led to the differences in their appearances, they shared enough genetic materials prevalent in the said DNA strands to allow positive identification; the test was considered accurate enough to identify up to 15th generation Coordinator even with input from Naturals. She was just about to ask for the former Blue Cosmos agent to undergo the test but since Flay offered to do it without any prompting showed how confident the redhead was with the test supporting her assertion. Perhaps Flay wasn't a Coordinator like she suspected?

Seeing that Murrue seemed wasn't willing to continue on, Flay shrugged. "Since you understand that I'm not what you claim, we'll continue on with the briefing." She then proceeded with her explanation. Despite her initial thought, Spectrum wasn't really built by ZAFT and whatever base she infiltrated, it wasn't ZAFT's. Whatever faction that was behind Spectrum, its presence was probably unknown by both ZAFT and Earth Alliance. Flay then explained the situation that led to Spectrum ending up in their hand, leading from her insertion into the research facility up to the attack by one of Blue Cosmos' own special force to take advantage of the ensuing chaos caused by Archangel's attack.

When someone asked how the Blue Cosmos knew when the attack was to be launched, she had a thin smile and answered that it was the same thing with how Archangel was given the mission to retrieve her and Spectrum: Halberton was a Blue Cosmos member.

Before Murrue could protest, she then explained that before it was usurped by extremists Blue Cosmos was actually an environmental research and pressure group, with several leading scientists as its members. In fact, few of its previous members had contributed their expertise into designing and building PLANTs. Even after Blue Cosmos was hijacked, there were few who were working to return it to its former role, one of them was Admiral Halberton.

Flay could only guess since the good admiral was already dead but he planned for the attack on the ZAFT base in such a way so that Archangel could retrieve Flay and whatever she was supposed to steal. That move would have helped to sabotage the Blue Cosmos' efforts to get its hands on ZAFT technology so that it could escalate the war even further. If Alliance could mass produce mobile suits with even a quarter of Spectrum's capabilities, it could quickly end the war by overwhelming ZAFT and not even the famed Gundams could help to change it.

The same thing probably would happen if it was ZAFT that got hold of it.

"Is it really bad if we just let any one of them get Spectrum?" someone asked.

He was given a very hard, cold and incredulous stare that caused him to shrink. "The other side wouldn't let it utilize the given advantage," Flay answered. "And that includes resorting to _anything. _So either both sides don't get any or we just give each side a prototype."

"But there's only one Spectrum to go around and it's with us," Mwu remarked.

"There's a probability that there are two more mobile suits similar to Spectrum and today's briefing is regarding how we will deal with them."

Murrue got up from her seat in surprise. "Impossible!"

Flay gestured to the main screen that showed the globe of Earth with two spots on it and explained that two celestial bodies entering Earth atmosphere in the week after the attack on the ZAFT's base in Ocenia. Unlike normal meteors whose vectors could be calculated though, the celestial bodies disappeared just after they entered atmosphere.

"So, you're saying that because they disappeared, they're mobile suits," Shinn said, arms crossed. The self-professed Otaku soldier seemed to have trouble accepting the whole situation. "And we're supposed to take that at face value?"

"Of course not," Flay answered. "As the matter of fact, the objects could be anything. However, we do have to investigate it," she made a gesture and a digital file opened showing a digital order and signature, "as per instructed by your leader."

Shinn leaned back and muttered, "I really don't like it. We're on a wild goose chase all over the world, risking our necks looking for two stupid blobs"

"We're risking our necks looking for the blobs, yes, but not on a wild goose chase. Your country's intelligence agency provided us with the following information." Two spots appeared on the globe, one in Africa and the other one in South America continent. She tapped the one at the Africa map. "Africa is closer so maybe we should go there. There are unconfirmed sightings by locals of a mobile suit in the area. As some of you know, ZAFT is fielding mobile suits in this region but they're mostly BuCUEs which are quite suited for such terrains as its bipedal mobile suits aren't suited for the harsh environment."

"And why don't ZAFT and Alliance search for it?" Mwu asked.

"Simple. The witnesses aren't partial to any party. Besides, even if they do find out, the area is highly volatile as it is that any movement by either side will be detected by the other party and lead to the escalation of conflict. So, if any particular side managed to acquire it, we would have seen an increase of military operations in the region so I'm quite confident the mobile suit isn't with any one of them. But that doesn't mean time is on our side."

The globe disappeared and was replaced by a news broadcast about a terrorist attack in Pearl Harbour where a bomb placed near a hospital ship caused numerous deaths and untold casualties. A hawkish Defense Secretary of Atlantic Federation then appeared to condemn the terrorists behind the attack and gave assurance that all efforts will be made to identify those responsible for the attack. Flay waited patiently until the recording was finished before continuing. "Chandra caught this broadcast yesterday," she said as she gestured to the man.

"And it is connected to us in what way?" Tolle asked. "I understand that the fact that the terrorists were ruthless bastards but what it has to do with our mission?"

The redhead glanced at Murrue to see the Archangel Captain was already gritting her teeth in anger. "It looks like your captain already understands the situation. Think about it. The attack took place in one of Atlantic's biggest naval bases which is highly secured and they blamed it on terrorists."

"It's not impossible," Mirrillia argued.

"Yes, but yet it's improbable. Besides, why blame nameless terrorists when they can blame ZAFT?"

"The attack blamed on nameless terrorists and not ZAFT because they wanted a common enemy that will be feared and loathed by all sides, including ZAFT," Murrue answered. "An enemy who attacks indiscriminately not because they are in a war but rather to spread terror and fear into people."

"And do you have any idea who the terrorists might be?" Shinn asked.

"Of course. It's us. We're the terrorists behind the attack." Murrue looked at Flay. "That's what you're going to say, aren't you?"

"Yes."

There were murmurs as everyone became animated, not believing what they heard until Flay motioned them to quiet down. She then explained that the attack was no without any shadow of doubt was Phantom Pain's modus operandi of sowing fear and discord into the populace. First, they would stage terror attacks that would cause panic among the general populace. Then they would slowly reveal the identity of the so-called group behind the attack before finally declaring an all out war against it. "I'm not sure but maybe a month from now on, they will reveal the existence of the terrorist group that managed to steal Atlantic Federation's newest battleship and use it to wreak havoc on innocent lives. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be attacks on civilians in ZAFT controlled territories which will eventually be blamed on us," she said, finishing her explanation.

"Hey, that's suspiciously similar to how the war against PLANTs started," Shinn observed.

"True, because that's how it happened. Of course, most people involved in the conflict don't realize that and are believing that they are fighting against the enemy who doesn't care for the safety of civilians."

"And this is what you learned in your Blue Cosmos espionage school?" Murrue asked with a frown on her face. She already realized that everyone was being used but hearing that from another still hurt.

"It was what I learned from the mass psychological manipulation class," Flay had a forlorn smile her face, "or at least that's the 'reality' that's formed my world."

* * *

The AMEF-SEAD01 DINN engaged its boosters slightly to reduce its vector, causing it to hover just a meter away from the landing pad. It then dropped, shaking the overall structure slightly.

Lunamaria removed her helmet and tucked stray strands of hairs behind her ear. Switching the autopilot on, she leaned back on her seat as her mobile suit slowly made its way to Minerva's main hangar. She was a trained soldier, but damn anyone telling her that she was to be denied of her shower at that time. Well, her mobile suit had air conditioning, just like any other mobile suits, mobile armours and aerial fighters out there but there was no air conditioner that could relieve the icky feeling she was feeling.

As her DINN entered the hangar, she idly noted the modifications being carried out on the 'Gundams'. Most of the modifications were not major, such as repairing the damaged areas on them or reconfiguring the battery output, if she guessed a technician's action of playing with the said power cell was correct, but Aegis had what seemed to be Striker Pack being fixed to its back. The add-on would, in theory allow atmospheric flight but at the expense of Aegis not being able to reconfigure into its mobile armour mode which was moot since the mode was only effective while in space.

And she was quite sure that her sister was involved in it. After all, when they were small, it was Meyrin who came up with wacky Rube Golberg machine and zany Heath Robinson contraption.

Well, the grass was always greener on the other side and that was that; they were sisters which meant it was within their divine rights to be jealous of what the other had while conveniently ignoring their own strength.

Finally the mobile suit turned and reversed into its designated bay and Lunamaria waited until it had been secured by the technicians before powering down the main operating system, taking out the memory disk containing her mission's record and opening the hatch. She lowered herself on the winch only to see Captain Talia was already waiting for her, arms crossed. She rolled her eyes, knowing her action couldn't be seen clearly. The aerial defense specialist had clearly forgotten Captain Talia when she decided that no one would stop her from having her shower immediately.

She snapped a salute after she reached the floor.

Talia replied her salute before gesturing toward the briefing room and began walking there.

Lunamaria quietly sighed and dragged herself behind the captain.

"What's your findings?" Talia asked Lunamaria when the two were alone.

"Our orders had been issued through proper channels, at least on the Earth side," the redhead pilot answered as she entered the memory disk into a table computer and passed it to her captain.

Talia looked at the information on the said device thoughtfully. "So we have to rule out that our communication link had been compromised."

Lunamaria nodded. "If it's okay, ma'am, may I know why you didn't ask my sister to search the network as well?" While she herself was air defense suppression expert, she could also conduct on-field intelligence gathering. On the other hand, it was really Meyrin's forte in searching for information, especially on the internet.

"I would have," but from the data here, I think it would lead to the same conclusion. In fact, I already suspected that there's no problem with the Earth side."

"But that means…"

"That will be all, Ensign," Talia said as she made a dismissive gesture even as her attention was still transfixed on the tablet in her hand. "Go and have a nice rest."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lunamaria snapped herself and saluted, knowing that the discussion had ended and she had no right to proceed further. "Excuse me!"

Talia kept staring at the tablet long after her subordinate had left the room before finally setting it on a nearby table. Following the altercation with Archangel and the Alliance carrier, she had expected to be court-martialed for assisting the enemy. She was proven wrong when not even a slap-on-the-wrist was given to her because of her action. Of course, an inquiry had been formed to investigate the matter as per regulation. However, the finding of the inquiry, which was made only two days after it was formed, duly cleared her out any wrongdoings on the grounds that she was performing as was expected out of any captain in the given situation.

The inquiry was a sham even from the very beginning.

The Minerva captain had begun to suspect that someone or some group, perhaps even inside ZAFT itself, had planned for the ship to help Archangel escape the attack from the Alliance carrier. If it was true, then for what reason? To capture it and its prized prototype? But why did the roundabout way of doing it?

Looking it from the other angle, the order wasn't to help Minerva in capturing Archangel but for another reason, one that she has yet to figure out.

It was the reason why she had ordered Lunamaria to conduct a small-scale investigation into the matter under the pretext that the Alliance managed to subvert ZAFT's communication network. And the result of the investigation, which was in her hand, had increased her concern.

Well, whatever comes, she would be prepared for it.

* * *

Hands behind his back as he gazed on the blue planet below him, Gilbert had a look of contentment on his face. "I have heard about your latest escapade, Rey,"

"You told me that I have a free reign on whatever I want to do."

A wisp of a smile appeared on Gilbert's lips at that statement. "Of course, that's what I promise you and I assure you I intend to honor that."

"Then why didn't you tell me that the prototype's real name is Prometheus instead of Spectrum?"

"Hm?", the eyebrows were raised in curiosity, "How do you know about that?"

"Just before I sniped at the mobile suit, the name entered my mind, like the knowledge is there in the first place."

"I have to admit, I find it intriguing…"

"But not unexpected," Rey interrupted. "This is within your prediction, isn't it?"

Gilbert didn't immediately answer but instead put a hand on the glass window. "Tell me, Rey, what is freedom?"

It took the blonde pilot quite a while to come up with an answer. "The condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints"

"Being able to act or speak or think without restraints? I remember a state leader in the era before our time saying that 'Freedom is the recognition that no single person, no single authority or government has a monopoly on the truth, but that every individual life is infinitely precious, that every one of us put in this world has been put there for a reason and has something to offer' Is that what you believe?"

"Yes."

"Yet another great leader in the same era stated that 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. By his statement, it is implied that there are restraints that will limit the degree of freedom one will have. What happens if my 'freedom' conflicts with yours? Therefore, freedom _is_ bound by restraints and boundaries. Yet, the next question is, how much boundaries and restraints constitutes oppression of freedom? Also, will the 'freedom' be considered real if one acts, believing what he believes to be of his own volition but the truth is he was being influenced to do so?"

"What is the point you're trying to make?"

"You're an impatient man, Rey, though it's probably due to the fact that you're a young man. Very well. The point I'm trying to make here is freedom is an illusion, a beautiful view but an illusion nevertheless. Yet, you, myself and everyone else, is willing to accept it as the truth to the extent of ignoring the real truth. That being case, I will ask you again, if I told you that the real name of the prototype is Prometheus rather than Spectrum, will you still shoot at it?"

"Yes."

"What if I tell you, hypothetically speaking, your sibling is in the red mobile suit next to it?"

"I don't have any siblings."

"That's why I said, hypothetically speaking. If it's your brother inside the red mobile suit, will you shoot at Prometheus and risk killing your brother in the process?"

There was a significant hesitation on Rey's part, "Probably not."

"And what if the information is false and I purposely lied to you about it?" Before the other man could answer, Gilbert continued, "You see, I told you before that I'm giving you a free reign on what to do. Yet you depend on me to guide and influence your actions. If I comply with that expectation, doesn't that mean I'm contradicting my promise to you?"

Rey stared at Gilbert for a long time. "But yet, by not doing anything to help me, you probably influence me to act according to what you want."

There was a slight nod. "That is a valid proposition, but at the same time, it confirms my statement that freedom is an illusion. However, will you let yourself remain immobile because of that?"

"No, because me remaining stationary may be part of your plan. The right answer is for me to continue on, believing in my own conviction."

"The same thing with me. By the way, in case you're wondering, I'm not the one who issued the order to Minerva."

The statement had two meanings: either Gilbert got someone else to carry out the order or there was really someone else who issued the order without the man interfering. Regardless, Rey was confident that he knew about the truth behind the situation but asking him would be pointless. "Very well, thank you for your time."

"Rey, in the future, before you take action, perhaps it is better that you investigate first."

"I will." The blonde started walking to leave the room. "Thank you for the advice."

"Oh, before I forget." The statement halted Rey in his stride. "Since you already sought my counsel despite you're not supposed to do so, I might as well offer you something. 'Arkheion' is on the move."

"Arkheion? Don't you mean Archon?"

Gilbert's head shook slightly. "No, I pronounced it correctly."

"And what is this 'Arkheion' is planning to do?"

"Well, you should really find out by yourself. After all, isn't that kind of question only a free man with his own will is able to search for an answer? And as for what to do next with the information," the older man smiled, "You will come up with your own decision, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I will. Thank you for telling me. See you later, then."

"See you later."

* * *

Kira watched the small video feed on a small screen to his left even as he scanned the radar for any possible hostile units. The broadcasted video, which he noted that it was encrypted using civilian-grade cipher key, was showing a pink-haired songstress performing in Januarius One, one of the PLANTs' colonies; it took five seconds for Spectrum's computer to decrypt it. One thing that couldn't be denied about military was they had the superlatives of everything: smallest transistors, biggest weapons, most powerful engine, most accurate radars and many more. And the Spectrum he was piloting had the best of the best military equipments, at least from what he learned from Flay's briefing. And to his horror, there were possibly two more units scattered around the world.

It was agreed that Archangel's main objective was to first locate the two mobile suits as fast as possible.

Flay's revelation was a big shock to him and judging from the reactions he saw, to everyone else as well. The responsibility everyone had to shoulder, which also included him, was very heavy. However, failure wasn't an option as the fate of the world was hanging in balance.

So there he was, piloting Spectrum on a patrol. Reluctantly, Murrue had assigned him to be one of the pilots, due to the fact that he was very 'compatible' with the system. He wasn't sure what the statement but according to Flay, he had the highest synchronization with the mobile suit even though the Tolle's girlfriend and the Otaku were definitely more skilled in piloting than he was. Despite that, his patrol schedule had been arranged so that he would only be send out when the risk was very low; he had no real reason to complain for the arrangement.

However, he was perplexed when Flay stated that he alone was enough to pilot Spectrum which was strange as the mobile suit was optimized for two operators. When pressed for further information, the redhead explained that it wasn't that simple. The mobile suit two operators control scheme would only work if the synchronization of the two of them weren't working effectively. That was a strange statement but he saw Mir and Shinn Asuka combination were quite good in what they were doing, even if he wasn't in the position to say so since he was still a civilian.

Well, at least he didn't have to fight so he had no reason to complain.

"**MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS FLIGHT SIERRA – CHARLIE – DELTA – SEVEN – FIVER – ZERO – TWO. WE'RE UNDER ATTACK BY HOSTILE AIRCRAFT. REQUEST ASSISTANCE!"**

As if knowing what was expected next out of it, Spectrum's computer popped up a small window on the panoramic display showing the location of the distress signal's origin. Then another window popped up, showing Flay. **"The call is from a registered civilian jet. We don't have the details but it seems that it's under fire from ZAFT mobile suits. It will take some time to launch Spitfire and asking you to return will waste some time…"**

"I will have to go," Kira interrupted her.

"**But you may have to fight them."**_ 'You may have to kill'_

"I understand. I will try to stall for time."_ 'I don't want to kill but yet there's no way I can ignore the call.'_

* * *

"What do you think you're doing, Ensign?" Murrue said as she glared at Flay who was sitting at the CIC console. She had agreed to the redhead's request to man the CIC control so she could be monitored but Murrue was beginning to regret the decision.

In response Flay shrugged but didn't turn to face her. "I'm not your ensign, Captain. However to answer your question, Kira is in the best position to attempt the rescue mission."

"I know that but I don't want to him to take the necessary risks."

This time Flay did turn to face her. "I know that," the redhead said in a neutral expression. "But at the same time, you want him to go there, aren't you?"

Murrue reluctantly nodded.

"Then there's no problem."

"But he may encounter hostiles."

"True, but he also has a higher chance of defeating them."

"Why are you so excited with sending him into battle?" Murrue asked in a raised voice as everyone else in the bridge prepared themselves for another round of verbal lashing between the two.

Flay's eyes widened at the accusation. Then she smiled wanly before turning back to her station. "That's certainly the case, isn't it? Well, that's not totally wrong but perhaps I should show you this."

Murrue saw few diagrams of the brainwave patterns being displayed one of the screens.

"The mobile suit's computer had adapted to his brainwave pattern and so optimized for his control. While that doesn't mean anyone else can pilot it, it would always require two pilots configuration in order to perform on par. Even with all that being said, I'm actually hoping that he can buy us some time as…"

"**Yo, Captain!" **Mwu said as he gave a two-fingers salute. **"Ready to go. Just give me the word."**

**

* * *

**

Marco Morassim raised his eyebrows at the resulting 'angel flare' as the jet fired off countermeasures to confuse the heat seeking missiles he had fired at it. If he was in the mood, he would have marveled at how beautiful the angel-like apparition was. However, he wasn't in the mood to waste his time. He had been cheated out of his quarries by that no-good bitch Talia who managed to make a fool of herself by failing to capture the legged ship and its white prototype.

As for him, he had to settle for the small fry in his reticule. According to intelligence, the small private jet belonged to someone who was very influential in Earthsphere. Marco guessed that it was one of those Blue Cosmos spoiled bastards. Well, he would find the answer to his curiosity soon enough as the jet wouldn't escape him and his flight.

The communication transistor beeped as the jet's pilot tried to get him to cease fire but he wouldn't relent until it surrendered to him unconditionally. What annoyed him was that the pilot had the gall to ask him to stop attacking even as it continued to run away. Enough was enough. He aimed at the tip of the jet's left wing and fired.

A small explosion later and the jet began to dive toward the large ocean below. It was then he saw a small capsule being ejected from it; no doubt there was someone very important onboard for such system to be installed.

Then his cockpit jarred as something rammed into him.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing?" Kira demanded, angered at the DINN pilot he had rammed into.

"**Well, what do you know, wish hard enough and it will come true. You're here to surrender to me?" **

Kira didn't deign to answer the taunt as his attention was on the capsule. The capsule had yet to deploy its parachutes to slow down the descent; he could see damage on the section where the parachutes were stored. At the speed it was travelling, there was no way the occupant would survive the impact into the sea. He engaged the boosters to chase after it.

As he made his way to the capsule, he tried to calculate on how to mount the rescue. It looked rather straightforward in movies: just grab the capsule and everything would be all right. However, it wasn't the case. Even as he catches the capsule, he had to factor in slowly reducing or redirecting its speed in order to ensure that any possible occupant wouldn't be squashed like a pancake due to his mishandling.

A stray shot passed by his left flank. He had forgotten to take into account that he was to mount the rescue effort all the while evading his pursuers.

* * *

Marco felt his blood slowly boiling: how dare the pilot underestimate him by ignoring his flight and went after the capsule. He and the rest of his mobile suits kept firing at the lone white devil of a mobile suit. If it wanted to turn its back on him and sped toward the thing, no one can blame him for shooting it from the back.

He pressed the trigger and emptied two cartridges of his MMI-M100 190mm anti-aircraft shotgun's ammunition on his opponent and was displeased when it rolled out of the way.

"Well, I underestimated you," he said as he targeted his MMI-M7S on the escape pod. However, he wasn't trying to destroy the pod; not when he was trying to capture the person inside the pod. According to his quick calculation, the white prototype would sacrifice itself to protect it and thus take some damage, allowing him to subdue both with ease.

No, it wasn't that easy, he reminded himself. The last time he had underestimated the mobile suit, he had lost two of his wingmen. "Costeau," he broadcasted to his submarine. "I want aerial saturation fire at the area I indicated."

* * *

He blinked as the numbers of warheads aimed at him kept increasing. It was impossible to shot down all of those missiles and shells being fired at him, Kira thought bleakly. Even if Spectrum was equipped with Phase Shift armor, which it wasn't, he wasn't sure he wouldn't be able to survive such an onslaught by himself, much less ensuring the rescue capsule intact.

"**You've had your warning, antiquated ape. If I can't capture both of you, then I might as well destroy the two of you!"** the DINN pilot taunted.

It wasn't fair, Kira thought to himself. The rescue capsule wasn't armed but yet they wanted to destroy it. It wasn't fair for to be brought into the conflict, it wasn't fair that the occupant wasn't able to protect himself.

He closed his eyes in frustration. "I will not let it happen." An image of a young girl with pink hair smiling suddenly flashed unbidden. "I will not any harm to her no matter what." Only two seconds had passed but it felt as if the time had expanded into infinity as a seed inside him finally shattered.

Spectrum sped toward the capsule and grabbed it with the left hand and brought it close to the chest. Simultaneously, its right hand drew the beam rifle and fired off a couple of shots at the warheads.

* * *

"There she blows," Mwu said as he spotted Costeau from his Skygrasper. The submarine was submerging after firing off its missiles and made a prime target for him. His approach was not undetected, however, as the submarine fired off three interceptor missiles at him.

In retaliation, the blonde ace fired two ASROCs at the submarine and turned away from the missiles fired at him. He waited until the missiles were close to his aircraft's tail before releasing flares and chaff while simultaneously performed a 180 turn. The missiles' seeker heads, having been confused by the countermeasures, didn't register Skygrasper's movements and caused them to continue to fly onward, searching futilely for their target which was behind them.

Meanwhile, the rockets launched by Mwu hit their marks and he briefly noted the explosion before moving on to the position where Kira was.

* * *

The demise of Costeau was lost on Marco who had yet to come to grip with what he was seeing: the White Devil's handful of shots managed to take out many warheads that were aimed at it. Each single shot would take more than three warheads in one go and would trigger primary explosions which would in turn take out other warheads as well, triggering more and more explosions. He wasn't sure that the remaining weapons would be enough to stop the intended targets.

The ZAFT submariner's DINN drew out its own anti-air shotgun before signaling for the rest of his flights to attack the prototype. Whoever the pilot was, he wouldn't be able to pay attention to taking down the warheads, deal with his mobile suits and protect the capsule at the same time.

Such plan was perfect in theory but a flaw was quickly found when the white mobile suit moved out of the artillery area with the capsule safely in its care. Before Marco's first subordinate got close enough to use the anti-air shotgun, it hit a section on the capsule, finally succeeding to trigger the capsule's parachute deployment. With the capsule's flowing slowly to the water below, the white mobile suit quickly moved in to engage the pursuing DINN. Even though he was taken by surprise, the ZAFT pilot tried to fire at it from a close range. However, the move was expected. The white mobile suit quickly grabbed the DINN's weapons and tore them away before slashing all of the limbs with its beam sabers.

The second DINN, rather than providing assistance to his colleague which was crashing into the ocean, attacked the White Devil from the distance, taking advantage of the pilot's diverted attention to destroy its beam rifle. With the prototype not having any long range weapon anymore, the ZAFT mobile suit then flew at the White Devil, firing its MMI-M7S machinegun to force the former to continue evading and not counterattack while Marco approached from another angle in a classical pincer movement.

Rather than let itself be caught in crossfire, the prototype quickly flew toward the second DINN, all the while deftly avoiding the projectiles trained on it. Surprise by the brazen and crazy move, the ZAFT's pilot could only gap as his enemy performed a combination of clothline and side hand lash to chop off the main camera. The attack also took out a big chunk of the DINN's wings and without them, it plummeted out of control. The DINN hit the water below at high speed and disintegrated.

"Who the hell are you?" Marco growled as he kept firing on his adversary.

* * *

"I'm a normal person," Kira answered as he tried to approach his adversary in order to disable it.

"**Normal person? Don't make me laugh! You trample on my pride, sully my name and you call yourself normal?"**

"You better stop. I don't want to hurt you or anyone."

There was a roaring laughter over the line. **"Who do you take me for? You killed my men and you're still saying such thing? Have you forgotten what you did on the island, huh? Or do you really think that by disabling the DINNs just now the pilots would survive being dropped into the ocean at such altitude?" **

"You forced my hands," Kira said with conviction. "I had no choice."

"**You sicken me boy, being able to spout nonsense in the middle of battlefield." **

The DINN suddenly engaged its boosters and flew at Spectrum at high speed. It happened at such a high speed that Kira barely thought about his next move but it was over. The ZAFT pilot had tried to use the same tactic he had use seconds prior and he had reacted instinctively. One of Spectrum's beam sabers pierced the DINN's torso, not far away from the cockpit, while the latter dropped the shotgun it had brought forward in order to shoot the former.

There was a pained cough. **"I… never," **the pilot's voice was raspy, "**… think that a Natural will be… able to react… able to defeat me in that manner."**

"I am… a Coordinator."

There was another laughter, albeit a weak one. **"Combat Coordinator? No, that couldn't be… You're a true traitor." **Slowly, the ZAFT mobile suit began to drop. **"You will regret fighting against your own kind, bastard."**

"I don't want to fight anyone. Why can't all of us live together?"

"**Heh… Even to the very end… Let me tell you, traitor. The world… the world is not… big enough for Naturals and Coordinators."**

The mobile suit was consumed by a large explosion. Kira watched the large fireball receding with misgiving, the ZAFT's pilot's words casting doubt in his heart.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's Note (6 December 2010)**

1. I would like to clarify about the poll I put up earlier on. I put the poll up because I want to know the demography of this story's readers but not determine what kind of pairing this story will be. Even without doing a poll I already know that a significant number of people watching GS and GSD fictions would go for a Kira x Lacus pairing. Instead, I'm just curious about who read this story. As I mentioned, the poll result would affect the storyline but not the pairing, which, even now, is not yet determine. Really, I haven't got to that stage yet. But maybe it's a toss up between the two highest choices in the poll. By the way, if you read stories for Kira x Lacus pairing, perhaps you may want to check out stories such as Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: The White Queen by Maileesaeya. I don't really know the author so I'm not promoting her per say, but that story is quite interesting even though it's on hiatus. If I want to write a story about Lacus piloting a mobile suit, that story will be one of my inspirations.

2. Hopefully, I can finish the next chapter before X'mas but in any case I'm not able to, Merry Christmas in advance and a Happy New Year.

3. If you already formed a deduction of the person inside the rescue capsule by now, your deduction is probably correct. :D


	10. The Arkheion, The Witch and The Bard

Mwu yawned as he watched the young soldier in front of him working on the rescue capsule Kira had brought in few minutes before. Even though he wasn't really that enthusiastic about meeting a probable politician inside the thing, he wanted to know what the person was doing in a dangerous area that incurred the wrath of a ZAFT submarine and inadvertently dragged Kira beside him to fight and kill. The small crowd gathered around the capsule proved that he wasn't alone in being curious about the passenger. The only exception was that Blue Cosmos woman who was playing with the young brunette's mechanical bird. "Do we have wait here longer?" he asked the mechanic.

"I'm working as fast as I can," Tolle replied as he continued working, "Even though this is a civilian rescue capsule manufactured by the non-military of ZAFT's Asimov Design Bureau, I have to ensure everything is all right before attempting to open it. The onboard computer seemed to be destroyed but at least the basic live support system is still working."

He continued his work, this time undisturbed, for a few more minutes before wiping the sweat off his forehead and pronounced. "It's done."

Slowly, the capsule's entrance open as everyone waited in trepidation.

"**HARO!"** A loud greeting echoed throughout the hangar bay as everyone had blinked at the small spherical object that bounced out of the life saver and had its eyes blinking and ears flapping while turning in a circle, looking at everyone.

"Haro?" Murrue questioned.

"**HARO! HARO! HARO!"** the thing chirped while rolling about, as if responding to her.

"How cute!" Mir said with a gushing expression on her face while there were few more voices agreeing with the statement.

Mwu looked at her as if she had grown another head before putting a hand behind his head. "This is very anti-climatic."

"Um…" an unfamiliar female voice from inside the capsule began before a young woman with smoky hair peered from the side of the entrance cautiously, "Thank you for saving me?"

Everyone's eyes turned upon here. "And you are...?" Murrue asked.

"I'm Meer…"

A green mechanical bird landed on her head, interrupting her. **"BIRDY!"**

"It is certainly a surprise to meet Lacus Clyne in person," Flay said quietly.

"Lacus?" Kira questioned. "But I thought that she's in PLANTs right now. I even saw her life telecast from the channel." He stopped to ponder. The name seemed familiar to him but he didn't know the reason why.

"Birdy recognizes her enough to land on her head or does it land on any stranger's head?"

The answer confounded the brunette. He knew very well that Birdy wouldn't simply land on anyone's head unless it recognize the person but he didn't really see how Flay linked that fact with the person being Lacus Clyne. "I saw Lacus' performance in PLANTs through the video feed before," he grimaced, "the fight so there's no way that she's here." He gestured toward the smoky haired woman with his hand. "Besides, look at her hair. Even though Birdy is on top of her head, I don't think it's there because it thinks her hair looks like a nest; Lacus, yes but definitely not her."

"Kira?" the woman suddenly called out, albeit hesitatingly.

The said person turned toward her, with questioning gaze. "Yes?"

"It is you!" the woman exclaimed in familiarity. "You have certainly changed since we last played together but there's no mistaking that callous bordering on being rude!"

"I don't think you should call someone you've met for the first time callous. Besides, you're the one to talk, given that you have yet to tell us your name…"

"I'm Lacus! Can't you recognize me?"

"But you're not Lacus. I saw her on the video and she's pinky!"

The woman giggled. "There you go again."

Mirriallia, who along with everyone else had been observing the whole exchange in stunned silence, turned toward her boyfriend only to see that he was checking his uniform before flapping his hands. Tolle, noticing her expression at what he was doing, shrugged. "I have to check whether this is actually one of those weird dreams, you know, like those where you go to college only pajamas."

* * *

Flay sat inside Spectrum, going through the maintenance check. The brouhaha regarding Lacus' rescue have simmered down and ended with the said person being whisked off for interrogation. With her being off duty, it was either that or spend the time inside her quarters; she didn't want to be bored out of her mind. She wanted to talk to Kira but at the moment, he was still inside the interrogation room along with Clyne, being grilled for information regarding his relationship with the heiress.

It couldn't be help as she was partly responsible for his situation since she had blown Clyne's cover and Tolle's glare toward the cockpit where she was working at from time to time reminded her of that fact. However, Flay was in no mood to explain her reason for doing so to the man, as well as remind the man of the fact that it was Lacus who revealed her past connection to Kira.

In Lacus' situation, it was better her real identity was established, both for her own sake as well as Archangel. It was to be expected for Lacus to masquerade as someone else if she ended up on a hostile ship but in her case, Archangel belonged to Orb, or at least unofficially. Therefore it would be better for her to come clean in the first place rather than later when preliminary tests that would be conducted on her raised suspicion, inevitably be exposed and subsequently not being trusted. On the other side, Murrue could probably get some useful information from her voluntarily, any scrap of information that wasn't classified or detrimental to PLANTs and ZAFT's security and in fact could be gained through normal diplomatic channel but may be of critical importance to Archangel to ensure the success of its mission.

* * *

"That's all?" Lacus asked, quite perplexed with the way her interrogation was conducted by the people she identified as Captain Murrue Ramius and Mwu la Flaga. The whole interrogation was rather pleasant. Also, she had been given the time to shower and freshen up before hand, allowing her to appear in front the two of them as herself, not as Meer, even though she opted to tie her hair in a bun instead of letting it lose as usual. "Honestly speaking, I expected to be questioned more, not that I'm ungrateful."

Mwu scratched his head. "Well, even though we found out that we're terrorists recently, we have yet to settle into the roles so you have to forgive us on that part."

"If I may ask, what are you talking about?"

"Have you seen the report about the attack on Pearl Harbor recently?" Murrue asked back.

"Yes. According to the modus operandi, it suggested that the attackers were also behind the attack on Sydney recently, causing twenty seven civilians dead and injuring several others."

Both Murrue and Mwu shared a look. "According to our," Murrue visibly struggled to say the next words, "resident strategist, there will be more attacks, especially in the civilian areas in both Alliance and ZAFT territories. Eventually, they will conclude that we're the ones behind the attacks."

"You forgot to say that everyone will be our enemies, Murrue."

"Thanks a lot, _Flaga_."

"My duty to serve, milady."

"But," Lacus interjected, "that's impossible. After all, you can't be travelling from Pearl Harbor to Sydney and then here without people noticing. Sure, I know enough about this ship to know that it's capable of atmospheric flight but doing that would make it easier to detect."

"Of course, that's impossible," Mwu, arms crossed, agreed. "You know it, we know it. Both Alliance's and ZAFT's top brass know it but they sure aren't going to tell the public that."

"But why? I don't see why they want to frame you? Why do they go to such length?" the pink princess asked in a rather passionate manner.

"Why are you doing here when you're supposed to be in PLANTs?" Murrue asked back with a steely gaze.

Lacus flinched.

"You're not supposed to answer that question, aren't you?" the Archangel continued asking while looking at the Clyne heiress carefully.

"Yes."

"Then, it's maybe better for you not to know the answer to the question you asked either," Murrue said before pressing the intercom button. "Kira, get in here."

The door opened and the young brunette entered.

"You're to chaperon Miss Lacus here. Bring her around the ship, if you will but remember not to bring her to any restricted areas."

Kira nodded before addressing Lacus, "Follow me," he said.

The two left the room, with both Murrue and Mwu watching their back. After the door had closed and few seconds elapsed, Mwu broke the silence. "Resident strategist?" She'll be happy to know that you hold her in high regard."

"I can call her 'pain-in-the-neck manipulator' but that wouldn't change the fact that I feel we're jumping the hoops at her beck and call."

"But Uzumi seems to put an awful lot of trust in her."

"I admit that, but still… It seems rather convenient that Kira would rescue Lacus Clyne out of all people with whom he had a little bit of history with, and his pet bird would recognize her even though she had disguised herself perfectly." Lacus had told them that she used a body double whose voice was uncannily similar to hers; Murrue wondered whether Lacus simply switched identity with that double.

"Come on, you're letting her get to you. Even if she recognized Clyne, there was no way she would know that the heiress would be in the escape pod. Besides, it was me who set up the patrol schedules and I can tell you that I didn't even listen to her suggestions. In fact, it was due to me doing the opposite of what she proposed that we managed to save Lacus." Mwu grinned. "Or are you going to start calling me a handsome and dashing manipulator as well?"

"Yeah, right, as if you can manipulate everyone."

He noticed that Murrue didn't object to him referring himself as handsome and dashing. "I will only manipulate your heart so that you will fall for me."

"Dream on." She sighed. "I guess you're right. Maybe I'm trying to look for something that wasn't there." Murrue had been trying to find evidences that would prove her suspicion that the redhead was a Coordinator that she was basically inventing them in her mind and it had clouded her judgment. There was no telling that maybe that was Flay's intention all along. If that was the case, then she would have to disappoint the Blue Cosmos ex-spy by not playing her game.

* * *

Flay finished entering the commands into the control. She could see that the mobile suit had already begun adapting to Kira, tuning its own performance to match his capabilities. Eventually, it could be said that the mobile suit was truly his. Just like how he established its name as Spectrum even though she was the first one to refer to it by that; its true name not known to anyone else onboard the ship. Thinking back, referring to the prototype as Spectrum wasn't really correct thing to do even though she had come to like it. The mobile suit had an alternate operating system which seemed to be similar to the one installed on ZAFT's prototypes. In fact, she suspected that Spectrum's alternate Operating System was a superset of those prototypes, which meant that the ones behind Spectrum was linked in some way to ZAFT and it would be another one of her missions to find out who they were.

Mission. Flay leaned on the seat, thinking about the word. Such a simple word could carry such a big burden behind it. Meeting up with Clyne had confirmed one uncomfortable truth that she was trying to deny: she had accessed Kira's mind. She knew that it wasn't her real memory when she recalled meeting Lacus whom she referred to as Pinky while searching for Birdy and she had suspected that it was Kira's but still to have it confirmed didn't exactly make her feel better. After all, that would confirm some things that she had earlier refused to accept things that weren't supposed to be.

Apart from that, there were matters pertaining to Kira…

Then her heart skipped and Flay clutched her uniform as pain pulsed throughout her body. It had only lasted for a moment but it left her hyperventilating. Quickly, she reached for a small plastic bottle inside her uniform, took out a pill from the said container and swallowed it. Waiting for the pill to take effect, she breathed slowly and deeply.

In all excitement surrounding Clyne's rescue, she had forgotten to take the pill. She was lucky that she was at the place where no one could see her when the pulse happened or else she risked her little black secret being found out; people such as Murrue for example.

She wouldn't allow such thing to happen, at least at the present time.

Being partly in the know regarding her secret, Uzumi had provided her with enough supply to last for a quite a while. Of course, he and the Orb scientists that synthesized the drug based on the sample she gave them didn't really understand what the drug's function was but they had enough data to conclude that eventually the subject being exposed to the drug would develop tolerance to it and diminishing the effect it was supposed to have and he told her about that finding. Despite that, it didn't matter to her as she knew that it was inevitable. However, she wanted to forestall it as long as possible.

Flay put a hand over her face as she felt a throb in her head. Meanwhile, her other hand crushed the bottle in frustration. She could barely feel the effect of the pill; it was not having the desired results on her.

* * *

"Maybe I shouldn't have blurted that I recognize you," Lacus said in an apologizing manner to her escort. "But I couldn't help myself. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your superiors."

"No problem. Besides, they're not really my superiors."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…"

"If you can't tell me it is okay."

"No, no, no," Kira added hastily. "It's not that. It's just that I'm not sure where to begin. After all, this is not a military ship, well, it is a military ship but then it's supposed to be… then there's the fact that it will become a terrorist ship when it's not…" he scratched his head. "Frankly I'm not really sure about what's happening."

The woman next to him giggled. As if impersonating her, the pink contraption she called 'Haro' flipped its 'ears' excitedly. "I'm just teasing you. After all, you teased me first when we were small."

"Hey, I was telling the truth that time. Birdy really thinks that you head resembles a nest." As if on cue, the said pet flew toward the two of them and landed on Lacus head, cocking its head animatedly.

"See?" he pointed out. "It still recognizes you."

"You programmed it."

"I didn't!" He insisted. "Besides, I wouldn't dream of modifying Birdy, not when it was given by my best friend."

"I understand the feeling," Lacus said as Haro tried to jump up and down but couldn't due to gravity. Instead, it managed to roll itself around the two of them. Meanwhile, Birdy was still on her head, making chirping sound every now and then. "This Haro and others were given by my fiance to keep me company so I really cherish them."

"Sounds like a nice man, your fiance."

* * *

Arms crossed and leaning on the feet of his mobile suit, Yzak gestured at Athrun who was at the opposite end of the hangar, engrossed in a discussion with the maintenance crew. "Frankly, I think Athrun is a spineless coward and not really fit to lead us. I mean, we have been under his command and look where we are. Defeat, defeat and more defeats."

"But, Yzak" Nicol began his protest. "It wasn't really his fault that we lost all this time."

"You got to admit, it hurt since we've at an advantage against Alliance but now we're slightly better than those brainless idiots," Dearka added his own thought on the matter.

"And he's the gall to flirt with the egghead," Yzak continued, referring to the man who was talking excitedly with the ship's SCCS operator. "And here comes her Sis-Con sibling."

Lunamaria stopped. "Sorry, were you talking about me?" she asked while pointing to herself.

"Yes. You. The one who has a sister complex. That's you. Who knows what the two of you do when you're alone,"

Lunamaria stepped in front of Yzak, glaring. "What did you say?"

"I say you're have a sister complex and your idiot is fawning over Athrun. Do you have any problem with that?" Yzak challenged while sneering at her. "I don't believe in being chivalrous so if you want to 'settle' our differences, I'm open to it."

"WHAT THE!" Luna suddenly uttered while pointing to her left.

Instinctively, Yzak looked in the same direction. The next thing he knew, he was bowing in pain, due to a well-placed hit below the belt. He barely reacted when Luna delivered a sweeping kick that dropped him on his butts. With fluid movements, the DINN pilot quickly caught him in a Combat Sambo cross arm lock where she grabbed his arm and secured it between her thighs while her legs were on his chest and neck. She then twisted the arm and pulled it toward her while simultaneously pushed him away using her hips, causing the arm to extend unnaturally.

Yzak grunted in pain.

"I hope this shows you that you helped to contribute to our loss because you're 'stupider' than the so-called 'apes' you like to ridicule so much," Luna said while maintaining her lock on the man.

"What do you mean?" Nicol asked.

"Haven't you stopped to think why you and your mobile suits are so successful in space missions but now you've encountered setbacks upon setbacks?"

"The enemy has a more advanced unit?"

"If the unit you're referring to is the no-face white jackass, then maybe. But how about your battle against Archangel's mobile suits? They messed you up, didn't they?"

"But we killed many of them!" Yzak manage to utter before Luna applying more pressure on him causing him to yelp in pain.

"But Strike was destroyed and two other suffered major damage. Do you know why you're here and Strike's pilot not? I tell you why. They targeted the most dangerous threat first."

"Strike is the most dangerous?" Dearka asked incredulously. "Sure, it can change its equipment but I don't see why…"

"Gravity." Lunamaria said simply. "Even though you have adjusted yourself to Earth's gravity pull, you forgot to adjust to it. This idiot friend of yours for example," she say amid Yzak's grunt of pain. "You were so used to moving around in space that you fail to retrain to move on Earth, save for the basic movements. The same thing with your mobile suits. They are as invincible on Earth as they were in space but that factor wouldn't help them to fly."

Dearka was about to refute her statement but then he understood what she meant. In outer space, not much force was needed to move and mobile suit could simply use its vernier thrusters to navigate. It could also use its limbs to help shift the gravitational center, allowing quicker turning when used in conjunction with the turning thrusters. Thus a mobile suit had a distinct advantage against a mobile armor jet in a space battle. However, on Earth, those advantages were nullified because of gravity. For example, while his Buster could operate on Earth, it couldn't fly unassisted. Even with the assistance of a Guul unit, it was still slow due to aerodynamic drag. In response, while a jet fighter couldn't hit his mobile suit, it could still try attacking the Guul unit from Beyond Visual Range using its missiles and escape before he could even retaliate properly. "Wait. You're telling me that Captain Talia asked us to retreat when we're about to fight the Alliance carrier because we would be at a disadvantage?"

"Yes. And right now, my sister is carrying out modification on Aegis to remedy that gravity problem while all of you were thinking of adding more and more weapons to your mobile suits, causing them to become slower and slower in aerial fight. Adding extra armor on Duel? What a joke. And talking about my sister," Lunamaria said as she caused Yzak to howl in pain for few seconds. "I don't give a damn about who you are, and I don't care if you call me Sis-con or whatever but if you mess with her, you mess with me. Understand?"

The trapped man grunted back.

"I can't hear you."

"YES!"

"Good," Luna slowly released the hold and stood up cautiously. However, Yzak was in no position to attempt revenge. She turned around to see that some people began coming toward them, curious about what happened. It was time to make her exit as she could see Meyrin was among them. "Oh, by the way, if you think that me beating the crap out of you is bad, let me tell you that I'm actually saving your hide. You really don't want to mess with my sister."

Dearka watched her leave appreciatively. "Wow, that's my kind of woman," he said after she was far enough.

* * *

Lacus hummed happily as she stirred the ladle of the stewing spaghetti sauce in front of her. The job that she was currently doing was at best considered as menial but she didn't really care. After all, no matter how menial the task was, it remained one of the most important onboard the ship.

Captain Murrue, after some deliberation had allowed her work in some of the low security area of the ship. Apparently the captain wasn't prepared to deal with a diplomat and decided it was better to assign some work rather than locking her up in her room. Of course, the freedom came with restrictions and conditions that she had no problem to adhere to. After all, she wanted to pass her time doing something substantial and as long as it didn't involve fighting, it would be okay.

In her opinion, the ship had a strange crew, one not to be expected to be carrying a secret mission.

Secret mission?

She stopped stirring. Archangel was probably after the same thing that she was searching for.

"You forgot to add some salt?" a somewhat familiar voice called out.

Lacus turned toward the person. "No, it's just… it's you."

A redhead woman wearing a black Alliance uniform sat at the nearest table, gazing at her.

"You're that Blue Cosmos Double Dealer."

"That's quite a mouthful name to call me, Little Miss Space Monster."

"Sorry," Lacus apologized as she realized her mistake. It seemed that Kira had infected her with the foot-in-the-mouth virus.

"That's all right. I don't care about that." The Blue Cosmos tilted her head toward a spot on the table in front of her.

"Oh. I didn't expect anyone to be here before lunch time but please wait."

A few minutes later, Lacus set a plate of spaghetti and a glass of water in front of the woman.

"Thank you." The woman was about to pick the cutleries when she noticed that another plate and another glass were being set on the table.

"I hope you don't mind if I join you… um… Miss?"

"Flay… Flay Allster. No, I don't mind." Flay said before she began eating from her plate.

"Thank you."

Few minutes passed in relative silent before Lacus broke it. "Sorry to ask, Miss Allster, but have we met before?"

The forkful of spaghetti that was the middle of delivering its payload stopped. "What makes you say that?"

"You look familiar. In fact, I feel as if I know you."

Flay brought the fork back to her lips and chewed leisurely and waved the fork around. "That's a good pick up line but I'm heterosexual. You should watch your words."

Lacus smiled. "I apologize. After all, I don't want to attract the attention of someone without a shadow."

There were tingling sounds as the fork bounced on the edge of the table before dropping on the floor.

The Clyne heiress craned her head to look at the cutlery. "Oh my. I'll get a new one for you."

Flay picked up the fork and put it in the middle of the plate, next to the spoon, signifying that she was done with her meal. "There's no need. I'm just surprised by your ability to be direct, that's all. You're not an airhead singer bimbo after all."

"Thanks the compliment, though I would have to ask you not to insult my hobby."

Pushing her plate aside, Flay asked, "So, how much do you know?"

"Is that a trade?"

"Tell me all you know about me and I will judge the value of the information."

"How about the fact that the dog your father kept is named Lucy?"

"He never kept a dog."

Lacus was still smiling. "Ah, of course, my mistake."

Flay's eyes widened in understanding. "So, that's what you mean." She chuckled. "I should have expected such thing from someone like you, with you being a diplomat and probably a politician in the future. Looks like your shuttling here and there aren't in vain after all."

"Thank you."

"So," the redhead asked casually, "Are you trying to find out about me or you're more interested about this ship?"

"This ship?"

"You know, blackmailing me into telling this ship's mission."

"I never said that I'm blackmailing you. I was just wanted to have a conversation with you to pass the time."

Flay rested her head on her left hand and gave an appraising look. "You're right. After all, the ferocious tiger that lurks behind that façade of innocence; even that is another façade to hide the fact that you're a normal people who isn't cut out for these things. You really shouldn't enter politics or even if you really want to dabble in it, you should at least let someone else write the songs your double sings."

The redhead was making it clear that she also possessed some secret information on Lacus in retaliation to what she had said. However, as Lacus had mentioned, she had no need to use the information she had so she had no real reason to be concerned. "Even if I'm unable to sing, I would like my voice to reach out. Meer is helping me do exactly that."

"Meanwhile, you're chasing after the two asteroids that originated from PLANT."

Lacus dabbed her lips with a napkin. Flay wasn't trying to get her to reveal what she was doing. The woman across her had blatantly made the statement and subtly mentioned the ship's exact mission, which she had guessed all along. By doing so, however, it also revealed that they, or at least Flay, knew what she was doing in the area. "They interest me and since I have some time to spare, why not?"

"It was a bad decision, though, because you ended up here. The captain has been mulling over releasing you in a rescue beacon rather have you onboard as our prisoner. But I guess you wouldn't like that so we have to find somewhere safer to release you, preferably to ZAFT or a neutral country, though I think it's best to hand you to your own political faction as you don't want to people to know what you're doing here."

"By your own deduction, I would be stuck here for a while, which is good in a way."

"Hmm? And why is that?"

"Nothing, it's just that I think it's better to think positive." It was true though she had another reason. Lacus had been seeing something irrational in some of the ZAFT's planning lately. For example, its main battleship had been sent in the middle of a battle between an Alliance carrier and the ship where she was on presently. The other one was the information she received that led her into the current situation as well as the confusion that caused one of ZAFT's submarines to attack her plane even though it was clearly marked as a civilian's. She hoped that those were coincidental as the other two possibilities were quite scary.

"Well, might as well. Due to obvious reason, there's no phoning home and there's no flying bicycle around."

There was still a subtle jab at her being a space monster but the Clyne heiress could only smile as there was no real animosity in it. However, she did wish she could contact her father to let him know that she was safe and doing fine.

* * *

The door to the car was closed amidst flashing strobes and the vehicle began to accelerate away from the concert hall as one of its occupants, a female, waved away. Then the person turned toward the man beside her, "You really don't have to come for me, Siegel. After all, everyone knows that you're very busy as it is and 'Lacus' wouldn't want to trouble her father, right?"

Siegel Clyne chuckled. "True, but as a father, I would be expected to spend my time with my daughter, aren't I?" He smiled at the woman. "Also, Lacus would like me to take care of her friend, so that would entail me bringing you out to lunch so that we catch up, even though that lunch is at a private spot where no reporters would allowed."

Meer reciprocated his smile. "Well, thank you, I appreciate that."

"How's the songs?"

"They're beautiful." The fake songstress' expression fell. "Even though I'm truly honored, I feel guilty singing them."

"Nonsense," Siegel said while waving it off. "She wanted, no, she insisted that you sing them." That was the truth. When Lacus offered to help her father in shuttle diplomacy, he initially refused as that would mean she would be unable to concentrate on her fledging career in singing. However, she persisted and he relented; the world in its present state would require every diplomacy effort to prevent it from degenerating even further. While her involvement was still limited to communicating with head of states that he knew personally, her help made a significant difference in the effort.

Because she was unable to concentrate on her career, she suggested Meer to become her double and he readily acquiesced, not realizing that she was planning something else. He learned about her real plan to develop Meer's career while slowly her bowing out when it was already in progress. When he confronted her about it, she calmly replied that was she wanted since she really wanted to help him. However, if she was a Coordinator, she was still a single human being and because of that she had decided to retire from being an artist to concentrate on what she deemed as more important. He tried to change her mind but she was determined, or in a father's dictionary stubborn, and wouldn't budge on the matter. In the end, she won and he agreed to her plan. At the same time all of those things took place behind the scene, the person who was sitting next to him was oblivious to everything, thinking that she was only covering for Lacus because she herself had no real talent. That wasn't true, of course, as he could see that Meer had as much talent as his daughter in singing and that observation came from a father who was proud of his daughter.

Siegel thought about Lacus, wondering how she was doing. She has yet to contact him and even though that made him worry, he knew that it wasn't easy for her to do so since secrecy must be maintained at all time. Yet, he was still a father and a father had to worry.

"Siegel," Meer's voice brought him out of his train of thought.

"Yes?"

"I know this is not in my place, but may I have a personal question about Lacus?"

He slowly considered the request. "Tell you what: You ask the question and if it's something I can answer, I will answer. If not, well, you get the picture. Fair enough?"

"Yes. I had been wondering about something. You know that Lacus and I had been spending time together during the time when she was mentoring me.

"And?"

"I heard her called out the name 'Arkheion' in the middle of her sleep. Is he her boyfriend?"

Sigel took a deep breath. He had not been expecting the question.

Meer took his silence as signal that he didn't want to answer. "I'm sorry, it's just that I have a ready answer in case someone is asking…"

"You do know about the story about her when she was small?"

"Yes. She told me that she was kidnapped by someone."

"Her mother and I were told by the police that the kidnappers might be related to Blue Cosmos terrorists. Naturally, the two of us were livid with fears at that time, wondering about her fate. However, she returned, or should I say was returned, safely in the end. I don't have the real detail about it but I do know that the one who saved her was this 'Arkheion' person."

"Oh."

"So please don't tell anyone including her about it because I doubt that Lacus herself remembers about what happened."

Meer nodded solemnly.

"Well, let's not dwell on the past, shall we?" he said as the car came to a stop. "Let's focus on how you're doing in the concert."

While what he told Meer was true, Siegel purposely omitted the other story he had heard about the name. He had heard the name being linked to an unconfirmed rumor about a project to create an Ultimate Coordinator through the use of genetic manipulation and artificial womb incubation. According to the story on the Ultimate Coordinator project, its researcher was aiming to create an ultimate human being that would be able to achieve the highest potential of humanity, something that has yet to be achieved. Siegel had been in politics long enough to hear many things. However, the story was too fantastic to believe.

He didn't know that he was wrong.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (9 January 2011)**

1. Happy New Year. My resolution this year is to continue this story, of course.

2. The arrival of Lacus onboard Archangel is reminiscent of the one in Gundam SEED. Of course, the situation is a bit different but the idea's basically there. I thought about using the 'Silverwind model' but decided not.


	11. Standing on the other side

**Author's note (2nd February 2011)**

1. As you can see, normally my AN will at the bottom of the page. However, for this chapter, I'm putting it on the top because I want to ask a question. Now, remember that poll I did few months back? This story progressed to this stage because of that poll. However, it will reach a critical junction soon with me finally having to really choose the pairing so as not to make it wishy washy. Yet, it's rather difficult to choose as I've finally settled on both pairings' respective endings so I really can go any way I want. So, here's the thing. I'm thinking of forking this story into two parallel stories, one being KL and the other being KF. The stories would share some similarities but yet have their respective differences. So, it's not just a matter of me substituting Flay for Lacus and Voila! a Kira x Flay story. Before I make my final decision though, I would like to know how many people will:

1) Read the Kira x Lacus pairing exclusively;

2) Read the Kira x Flay pairing exclusively; and

3) Read both stories. (of course, if I write both stories simultaneously, there are certain tradeoffs that have to occur, such as a slightly slower update or one story may end up being faster than the other)

You can either mention your preference in reviews, PM me or email me at noshmono at gmail dot com. Thanks and a Happy New Year

* * *

1

* * *

Eight years ago,

_It was the easiest work he and his handpicked team had performed. Being military veterans turned mercenaries, they follow the money trail, doing works such as escorting or providing security. Sometimes, when the opportunity arise, they would engage in slightly 'greyer' activities such as smuggling firearms or even performing piracy or executing assassination since the potential rewards remunerate the risks taken._

_So, when the contract was offered for a kidnapping of the daughter of a fledgling politician, it was business as usual for them to accept it, especially the rewards being offered was very high, far higher than the amount of ransom that could be demanded from the would be victim's parents. With the prepayment already banked in, the group began their operation by keeping surveillance on the family. Once the pattern had been established, the operation was executed with military precision._

_On the determined day, they waited for the daughter to return home after her kindergarten was over, being picked by the family driver and nanny in a car. The group waited until the car turned into a rather isolated corner before shooting the tires and forcing the vehicle to stop. Immediately, two fully armored operatives moved in toward the driver and fired armor piercing rounds at the driver, killing him instantly. They then unlocked the car and another two opened the back door, one shooting the arm of the nanny to force her to release the child while the other took away the crying kid away._

_They then told the still bleeding nanny to remind the child's parents to keep quiet and wait for instructions if they really want to see their daughter again._

_The whole plan only took fifteen minutes, including the transit time._

_The threat was simply a farce, in order to trick the parents into not taking any action. By the time they realized that they had been had, their daughter would be long gone and the group already melding into the shadow of obscurity._

_So at that point of time, they were waiting for their target's pickup; with the critical part already over, they could afford to relax their guard slightly, evidence with some of them doing their own thing._

"_Where's Walt?" the leader asked his team member who was cleaning her gun._

"_Jerking off, probably to the Pinky's photo. Said that the kid is too cute," she said before blowing at her gun._

_The man scoffed and brought out a cigarette to light. Even though Walt was as dependable as any member of the team, he had his own peculiarities which everyone else was willing to ignore as they too had their own dark secrets. After all, as long as the missions were successful, who cares what they did in their past times._

_However, since the mission that time involved a young girl, it was determined that the man, a convicted pedophile on the run from police, would be kept away from their hostage. The request had specifically mentioned that the girl was to be handed 'undamaged' meaning if they let Walt had his fun with her, the mission pay would be low and the rest would rather kill him than let that happen. Besides, with all the money they were about to receive, he could buy all the children he ever wanted. But a forbidden apple would always look more tantalizing if its prohibition was even greater. That was the reason why the woman was stationed as a guard at the door._

"_How's the girl?" he asked. _

"_Still crying for her mommy and daddy but otherwise okay." _

"_That's good to hear," a slightly raspy voice from the doorway said just before a whizzing sound followed by the sound of metal being embedded in flesh._

_The leader instinctively jumped away from the door, and with his Coordinator reflex quickly withdrew a gun with his right hand and a knife with his left. He saw through his peripheral vision that his subordinate had already been killed, a knife protruding from her neck. "You're not going away with this," he growled. _

"_I already have," the person said from behind him before grabbing his neck in head lock and stabbing his back._

_The stab was deliberately not aimed at vital points but instead inflictedg heavy bleeding. Only after the leader had lost quite substantial blood was he released and he promptly fell on his back on the ground. "You…" the weakened man croaked. "How do you… get… here?" _

_A masked person slowly came into view. The mask was ivory white and featureless except two red stars around for eyes and a red frown around the mouth area; the person looked haunting. Somehow the mask looked familiar but the injured man couldn't recall, being in that state. "Through the back door, and don't bother calling out for the rest, you're the last one. I let you die slowly instead of killing you immediately just like I did with them because I want you to know that you made a small mistake in taking the girl," _

_It was then the dying man recognized the mask. "You're Arkheion,"_

"_Yes. I'm Arkheion." _

"_So you're her… keeper," the man manage to gurgle as his blood had spread inside his body as well.,_

"_No, no, no. You get it wrong. I'm working under those who employed you, and you know what? I'm going to save the girl and bring her home, not because I'm her keeper or I'm kind but because I want them to think that she has the potential to be like me. They will waste their time trying to get her again and again only to realize later, much later, that she was not what they were searching for. Oh, she is gifted, but not gifted enough to be my replacement."_

"_You are a monster… "_

"_Monster?" The voice was teasing. "Maybe. But if I am a monster, what would that make your kind, hmm?"_

_However, Akheion's prey wasn't answering, having exhaled his final breath._

* * *

"My childhood? It's pretty normal," Lacus said to Kira. The two were walking along the hangar, Kira having joined her when she came in to distribute food to everyone there. "Well, nothing interesting happened so maybe that's why I'm trying to find some excitement."

"I remember you saying that you like to see circus."

"Strangely, I find watching clowns performing calms me down,"

Kira gave her a strange look.

"Really," she insisted. "I myself wasn't sure when that started but when I see them performing, I somehow feel that they can make things right again. Strange, isn't it?"

"Well, everyone has his or her own stories, I guess. Wait, let me guess, you're at the park where I met you because you were bored?"

"Something like that."

"You sound like one of those bored princess in those fairy tales."

Lacus giggled. "Certainly sounds that way,"

Meanwhile the two walking about the place was observed by Murdoch who was wiping off sweat his face with a dirtied towel. "Well, Clyne is sure fitting in nicely, I'm glad Murrue had upgraded her clearance status so she can come here."

"Hmm?" Shinn replied, his face being buried inside a portable game console with earphones in his ears.

"Were you listening to me, brat?" the older man growled.

"Of course! Of course! You're saying about the need to modify Spitfires power lines to minimize power wastage. In my opinion I think it would be better if the corresponding power capacitors are changed to D32A-Blue."

"Damn you. If not for the fact that what you're saying is probably true, I would have kicked you into the gutter.

"Of course, loud and clear: after you change them to 32s, I'll carry out the tuning afterwards to stabilize the energy wave strata."

Murdoch snorted. "Looks like someone else is fitting in as well." When he first saw Asuka, the young pilot seemed to be a poster boy for someone who hated the world with a passion. However, he was proven wrong. The 'boy' was simply content to living in his own two-dimensional world. Yet, when the situation called for it, Shinn could be depended upon.

Murdoch wasn't the only one who watching the couple as a pair of smoky eyes gazed uneasily at them from the top of an opened mobile suit cockpit. Flay wasn't sure why she was feeling uneasy but she had a sudden impulse to jump down from the cockpit and went to the two of them so that she could find out what they were talking about. However, that was an irrational action on her part yet she could barely suppress herself moving from her position.

* * *

"That's something you wouldn't see often," Arthur Trine commented as he watched the main screen at Minerva's bridge showing a drop pod descending from orbit. Drop pods have been utilized by ZAFT to great effect in the earlier part of the war, allowing rapid mobilization of its troops to invade Earth as well as having the psychological 'shock and awe' on its enemies. The tactic wasn't limited to offensive maneuvers; ZAFT used the tactic to quickly build a military base in the Gulf of Carpentaria of the Oceania Union by dropping pre-assembled building modules on the site.

However, the tactic had been rendered quite ineffective by the redeployment of Alliance's Ballistic Missile Defense System. According to what he knew, the upgraded system could target a reentry pod and fire an interceptor missile at its critical phase of reentry, the time when it was most vulnerable, as demonstrated by a failed special operation mission to invade Washington D.C. to capture Whitehouse and hold the Atlantic Federation's president hostage in order to force it to a negotiation table. Since then, reentry through drop pods would only be allowed when ZAFT have full airspace and suborbital superiority or it was necessary to do so.

The pod disintegrated, revealing a single DINN and some equipment pods.

The bridge's door opened and Talia walked in. "IFF signature?" she asked Meyrin's replacement.

"Profile match."

"Guide the pilot in." She then turned to address Arthur, "Prepare a retrieval team to get the pods."

"Yes, ma'am," The second in command of Minerva replied.

* * *

"Another Strike?" Athrun commented as he pointed at the reddish mobile suit on Meyrin's portable tablet computer. The two of them were taking a break carrying out modification to Aegis. However, he still didn't understand why the rest of the repair personnel seemed to have something else going on and left the two of them together nor understand the looks they gave Nicol when he approached them.

Meyrin looked at him and then at Nicol in response. "Don't the two of you know about it?"

Nicol chuckled awkwardly. "Well to be honest, we're not involved with the mobile suits' development at all."

A hand rested on Nicol's shoulder and Dearka's head peered over it, having just joined the three of them. "And when the five of us were assigned to them, we don't bother to learn about their history." When he saw the younger Hawke sister was about to say something, he added, "You don't have to learn about the history of a refrigerator in order to use it, right?"

Meyrin stopped and sighed; the statement was a bit flawed in the context of their discussion but the logic behind it still stood. She tapped on the keyboard and the diagram expanded. "ZGMF-X001 Proto Strike, or conversely known in the development circle as Strike Rouge."

"Strike Rouge?" Athrun asked.

"Unlike the popular belief, Duel is not the test bed for other prototypes. It had been designed for close combat or specifically as a ship killer. As you all know, while Buster and Aegis are equipped with longer ranged and more powerful weapons, there were various countermeasures that could be deployed to nullify their effectiveness. For example, projectiles could be shot down by CIWS while anti beam mine could be launched to nullify beam cannons. Out of all prototypes, Duel had the least mass fully equipped; while Strike had the least dry mass, it had only two Armor Schneider combat knives for offensive use." Because of that, she continued, on paper Duel had the best maneuverability in space. That advantage allowed it to quickly move in to destroy Alliance space vessels with its beam sabers and Yzak used that very same advantage to destroy more ships than the rest of the team members combined.

Dearka noticed that Meyrin didn't say anything about its performance on Earth. He knew the facts, though. It maneuvered slightly better than the rest, excluding Strike with its Striker pack attached, something that Yzak failed to notice until one particular DINN pilot beat that fact into him. Then again, he and everyone else was pretty much the same including Athrun who only realized about it earlier thanks to Meyrin's help.

"Wait." Nicol interrupted. "If you're saying that Duel isn't the test bed..."

Meyrin nodded. "The development of all prototypes was based on Strike, or specifically Strike Rouge."

"How come I don't know about that?" Dearka uttered.

"Don't have to learn about the history of a refrigerator…" came the gentle rebuke, much to his embarrassment.

"The color's a bit pink," Athrun observed.

"Good observation. That's because the Phase Shift armor technology wasn't perfected yet at that time so the full protection against projectile was only around the cockpit area. Had the armor work perfectly, the color scheme would have been similar to Aegis. And before you ask further, the armor's color selection wasn't decided by its test pilot."

"Who's the pilot?" Dearka asked, his curiosity aroused despite the earlier comment about not needing to learn about the development of his mobile suit.

"This," Meyrin said as a picture of the pilot appeared, "is Strike Rouge's test pilot, Elaine Bakhtiar."

"Um… that's a picture of you," the dark skinned blonde remarked. "Are you pulling our legs?"

"Every time I show her picture to anyone, I get somewhat the same comment. The differences are a lot so I don't see why people keep saying that she is me," Meyrin said exasperatedly before enlarging the picture of the pilot. "Look closely."

Dearka rubbed his chin as he drank the view. "Well, you're right. The two of you are different. You're cute in an eye-pleasing kind of way but this one is blazing hot!"

"She was known as 'The Red Cometh'."

"The Red Comet?" Nicol asked.

"No, 'The Red Cometh' as in 'Hey look! The Red cometh and she's blazing hot' kind of Red Cometh."

"You're kidding me," Athrun said.

"Well, that's according to the story, at least. You know, legends always grew out of people making the heroes, and heroines, larger than life. Someone who managed to defeat an injured buffalo may end up defeating a ferocious mountain lion in the proses written about his heroic deed."

"Just like how the one that got away becomes bigger and bigger with subsequent retelling," Dearka added.

"Similar in nature."

"So what happened to Strike Rouge?" Nicol asked

"According to the files…"

"Speaking of red hot, look!" Dearka interrupted, while gesturing to Lunamaria walking toward the group. "Another Red cometh,"

"Sis?" Meyrin asked when she was closed enough.

The older sister thumbed in the direction as a DINN landed at left platform. "A new pilot 'dropped' on us so I'm here to see the person."

* * *

Talia set down the dossier and stared the masked man standing in front of her table. Normally, concealing one's identity was only limited to special intelligence purposes where one's real identity was one of the secrets to be protected at all costs so hearing someone use it while serving on a normal military vessel was strange. Therefore, there was another reason why the man did it and she wondered why. After all, no one would go around wearing a masquerade mask, making him look like an idiot. Besides, wearing any normal face, cover which includes a mask, would impede vision and that was something to avoid in any fight. "Are you a half-brother of any French King or Voltaire's fashion sense is vogue right now?"

"Sorry for my impudence." The man removed his half face mask and saluted. "I'm Rey Za Burrel. "

The Minerva captain saluted back from her seat. "You look familiar to someone I've worked with."

"Commande Creuset was my relative," Rey answered. "A long distance uncle, if you will."

"He's a rather capable leader and would have progressed even further if not for his health problem put an end to his rather brilliant career. Have a seat."

"Thank you."

"So I presume you're a FAITH member as well?" Talia continued her questioning once Rey was seated.

The man brought out the FAITH badge out of his pocket to show her before putting it away.

It was a simple gesture but very meaningful: even though Rey was on similar level with her, he put away the rank and instead submitted to her command. However, that wasn't enough for her because just putting it away meant he could use it any time he want and she would be damn if he were to jeopardize her own mission. "You do know that I simply kick you out by the virtue of my position?"

"It would be rude to assume otherwise," the man admitted. Even though the two of them were at the same rank, Talia also held the position as Minerva's captain and thus could overrule him in regards to any matters pertaining to the ship's operation. Since, she was only answerable to ZAFT's High Council, it would be hard to overrule any of her decision. "I'm here seeking a boon…"

"Let's skip with all that poppycock and malarkey. What's your real mission?"

"I can only say that part of it is to help you destroy Prometheus, the white prototype you have been fighting."

"Prometheus… I see." The fact that Rey mentioned the name as it was the real name of the so-called white prototype revealed the fact that he knew more than he let. "Because it's one of ours? Or is it because we're to cover the dark skeleton in our closet?"

Rey took a deep breath. "I'm not supposed to tell you this but the knowledge about Prometheus being our mobile suit to select few." When he noticed that Talia was about to say something, he held up his hand to stop her. "However, all members of the council have been briefed about its danger, which includes the nuclear engine it is carrying."

Talia put her thumb under the chin while staring at the man. From the statement, she already understood how the council members were manipulated into giving approval for a full military assault against the Archangel and the white prototype Rey referred to as Prometheus. There was no need to reveal the truth to them in the first place except the fact that the mobile suit was nuclear powered. That was enough to influence their decision as ZAFT and PLANTs wouldn't want the war to escalate even further. Even if the mobile suit was Alliance's, they would try to find a way to destroy it. "You do know that even with their approval, this is quite a delicate matter to solve."

"I understand, which is why I'm here to offer you my help. Also, there has been a… recent development that will help us in this matter." The man brought out a small envelope from his breast pocket. "Before I forget, this is addressed to you directly by Council," he said as he handed over the envelope"

Talia opened the envelope and read its content slowly. "By the order of the Council…" she lowered it and then stared at him. "You know about this?"

Rey shrugged. "I really don't. However, it's not really that difficult to guess its content, especially taking into account everything."

"I guess, you're right," Talia said as she switched on the main screen to watch a news broadcast. "Well, Rey, you're welcome onboard on one condition. You will not wear that mask as well any other face covering unless you're going to a masquerade ball. As you yourself implied just now, you're going to work together with other people onboard this ship and trust is very important here. I hope you understand where I'm going with this."

"Understood. However, I would like to request my assigned name to be maintained."

"Oh, you're referring to 'Arkheion'?" the Minerva captain asked while arching her eyebrows. Still, the documents presented were in order. "That's a fair concession so no problem."

"Thank you."

"Now then, let's see this 'development' you referred to," she said as she turned her attention toward the screen.

* * *

"Who's the man with tasteful clothing?" Tolle said to Mir who was sitting next to him as he thumbed at the main screen. It was showing a man with a golden hair, dressed in white suite giving a fiery speech.

"I think he's Senator Muruther Whitney, quite an influential person in Atlantic," Mir answered while le. "Heard that he's quite a philanthropist."

"Well, in a world like this, we need more people like him, aren't we, Lacus?"

"Er… yes."

"Hmm…. I'm impressed, Lacus." Flay's voice from above startled her. She turned toward the redhead to see the said person was smirking. "It looks like you have a long political career in front of you and you'll manage it quite well."

"Yeah?" Tolle said. "You got it right. At least she knows who is a good person and who is not. As I can see from my spot here, she can be at least civil to someone who actively plots her destruction."

"You're right," Flay said as her smile became wider. "Why, I would expect Lacus would be comfortable spending some time with the philanthropist rather than be in the same room with me."

"Of course. Muruther Whitney is not you!"

Meanwhile Lacus could only watch the exchange in silence even as she felt conflicted by her words. She knew that the senator wasn't really a good person and Flay knew that she knew; the redhead was chiding her for not revealing the truth about him. A prominent member of the Blue Cosmos terrorist organization, Muruther or referred to by his covert call name 'Azrael', was known in the intelligence as well as diplomatic circles as an extremist, believing that humanity should unite to vanquish its enemies, the Coordinators for the sake of a "blue and pure world". Apart from being a member of Blue Cosmos, he also had significant influence in Atlantic Federation due to his position as a Chief Executive Office and President of Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate, or known as ANDCo, the main weapon supplier to the Atlantic Federation; none of those facts were known to normal people; Theodore Whitney being the president of Green Earth Corporation, a biotechnology company interested in researching agricultural technology for the betterment of mankind.

So seeing the man giving droning about the sorry fate of the victims of an attack on a settlement in Washington D.C., which coincidentally had a large Coordinator population, and promising prompt aide to them predictably left Lacus with misgivings. Still, she had verbally agreed with Tolle's words even though she knew otherwise and Flay used that to flog her verbally. But in Lacus' opinion, Flay seemed to be a bit harsher than usual. Normally, the comments were merely sarcastic in nature but the ones she was hearing belied the sharp edges in them. It was quite strange. Did she do something wrong to offend the redhead.

Kira entered the room and Flay got up to approach him. The two of them began to talk albeit slowly so the details of their conversation wasn't audible even to Lacus.

"Honestly, I'm concerned for him," Tolle said as the two of them left the place. "I know I'm being biased but I can't help feel that she has some design on him."

"I know," Mir admitted. "Yet we have nothing to prove it."

"I don't understand what you are talking about," Lacus said. "I think she's all right."

Tolle threw up his hands. "You're too kind, Lacus. Maybe for your own good."

"You will lose out to her, you know," Mir added.

"Huh?"

"Kira," Tolle clarified. "You like him, don't you?"

"Eh?" Lacus uttered while blushing. "Um… I don't know what you're talking about. After all I only know him from childhood."

"We really believe you," Mir teased.

The Clyne heiress blushed some more.

* * *

"Before we proceed with our agenda today," a wizened looking man began, "I must congratulate you on your speech that day, Azrael."

Azrael scoffed. "I amazed myself by not vomiting when I talked about the 'suffering' the trash endured."

"Exactly my point," the man agreed.

Another man added his own opinion, "Even though it is unavoidable we must look empathetic to the space monsters misery so that we can use them to hunt down the traitors, I have to say that were I to be the one doing the speech, I wouldn't be able to pull it off."

"The only thing, I'm dissatisfied with the damage being inflicted," a woman said. "The team is supposed to kill more."

Azrael nodded. "Nevertheless, despite the small annoyance, we have achieved our goal. It's time to focus on our next step which is to shift the war from the current impasse to our favor while the space monsters are busy trying to avenge their kinds' killers by going after Archangel." With a practiced flourish honed by years of experience in business, he brought everyone's attention to the three mobile suits being displayed on the screen inside the room. "I present our crowning achievements, GAT-X370 Raider whose long range weapons can quickly vaporize the space monsters, GAT-X131, our unmatched predator in the sky and last but not least GAT-X252 Forbidden, the master of close range combat."

A presentation video that started, showing each mobile suit abilities and capabilities, capturing attention of everyone inside the room.

After the show had ended, there was a thunderous applause and Azrael took a bow.

"That was splendid," the old man said amidst murmurs of agreement. "However, there is the question of who will pilot them."

"Will we use those from 'Circus'?" another member asked, referring to the Combat Coordinator program where Coordinators were being brainwashed into working for Atlantic Federation and the only way to leave the organization was to win in handicapped fights.

"There's no need," Azrael replied. "We'll be using our people to fight against them,"

"But there's the fact that the space monsters would have advantage in regards to piloting them."

"Don't worry. With Halberton finally out of the picture, I know everyone will be willing to see the merits of continuing the Extended program."

"But," the woman added, "the main reason we shelved it is because they're not stable. Think of the political backlash it can have on us."

There were nods of agreement.

Azrael's expression was a calm one but that contrasted with the anger he felt. Damn those vultures! Thinking about their own political survival when the most important task that they have to focus on was the destruction, no, the eradication of those malignant tumors who dared call themselves as humans! So what if the rest of the world wouldn't agree with their methods? They were just gullible lambs waiting for their masters to lead them. That was where he, Azrael came in. He gave a glance around the meeting room to see that everyone was waiting for his answer. Perhaps he had miscalculated. Everyone else inside the room was waiting for him to lead them as well instead of being his partners. Very well, he'll do just that. "I wouldn't worry. The Extended program has progressed to the stage that the Biological CPUs would follow orders to the letter and will not go against us."

That statement was a bit of a stretch since the CPUs were prone to outbursts now and then but as long as they realized that he held the drugs they were addicted to, he knew that they would comply with the order. Of course, they would need to work out their aggression but that was the use of having the enemy, right?

"I think Azrael's pet project is going smoothly," a new voice added. "So, we should at least have a field trial before writing it off."

Azrael almost glared at the person but managed to prevent himself. Even though the new person had supported him, Azrael loathed the man almost as much as he hated the space monsters; the man was the one standing between him and his hegemony in Blue Cosmos. "Thank you, Djibril."

However, he was willing to bid for time, having learned that patience being utmost important in the field of politics and business.

"You're welcome. So, when can we have the field trial for the three mobile suits?"

"Soon."

* * *

Flay looked at the cup being set in front her and then the person setting it.

"Mind if I join you?" Lacus asked while smiling.

"Go ahead," the redhead said while stirring her coffee.

"What a coincidence, meeting you here." The Clyne heiress said while taking her seat.

"Really? Even though you have been staying away from the cafeteria while waiting for this moment?"

Lacus drank her tea. "Otherwise it will be hard to talk to you," she said while smiling pleasantly.

"You know that simply approaching me wouldn't matter because I will avoid you."

Yes, she knew that if she tried to approach the redhead, the latter would avoid her entirely or if Lacus went to her room, excused herself by saying that she was tired and needed some sleep. Even if she could be cornered, Flay would simply deflect any personal question that will be asked by steering the conversation to work related matters. So, the best time to catch her off guard was during meal time, specifically during break as there would be a lot of people during breakfast, lunch and dinner. "It get the job done, right?"

Flay sipped her drink. "I suppose you have points for trying, so let's hear it."

"Are you angry with me?"

Lacus got a stare at that question. "What makes you say that?"

"By your own admission just now, you're avoiding me. I would like to know whether I did anything to offend you."

"Would you mind if I say I hate you?"

"And I like you," Lacus admitted.

"That's one of the reasons why I don't like you"

"Why?"

The question went unanswered for a full minute. "Okay, I think it would be easier to explain through demonstration. Now, close your eyes and imagine a very cute puppy white fluffy white hair and droopy ears. Even its tiny barks are very cute."

"Okay," Lacus said with her eyes closed.

"Now, this puppy is always playful and likes being with you. Wherever you go, it follows obediently. It's also smart as well, being able to learn a trick easily. In short, the puppy is the most perfect companion you'll ever have."

"Hm…"

"Now, imagine you're playing fetch with the puppy and you threw a stick for it to fetch."

"Uhuh…"

"Then suddenly someone came along and kicked that puppy."

Lacus' eyes opened in shock, not expecting the twist in the instruction. "Why would that person do such a thing?"

"Because that person doesn't like the puppy." Flay pointed at Lacus. "To put it simply, that cute puppy is you and I'm that person."

"Is this because you don't like Coordinators?"

"Correct."

"You think a Coordinator is perfect, just like that puppy in the story and you have that urge to kick him or her."

"You got it right."

Lacus had a thoughtful look on her. "I understand."

"Glad to hear that."

"But how about Kira?"

"Huh?"

"You're rather close to him and I have yet to see you kick him."

There was no missing the slightly flabbergasted look on the redhead. "Er, that's because of work. Outside of work, I kept my distance."

"Oh, I see." Lacus' expression changed and she waved in a direction. "Kira!"

Flay quickly turned toward the direction she was motioning only to see that there was no one there. She turned back and saw that Lacus was sipping her tea, smiling faintly; it was a trick and she fell for it, disproving her earlier remark about the said man. The redhead let out a long sigh before drinking drank her coffee in silence.

As for Lacus, she wasn't really lying when she said that she rather liked the person in front of her, despite the person being a Blue Cosmos member and she was telling the truth when she said that Flay looked familiar. Of course, despite whatever Flay was trying to deny, the two of them were interested in the same man. In fact, that was probably the reason why Flay's attitude toward her changed a bit. "I'm jealous of you and Kira too," she admitted to the redhead seating in front of her.

Seconds later she was patting the redhead's back after the said person nearly choked on her coffee.

Anti-Coordinator quirk aside, Flay was a very interesting person.

* * *

The modified Aegis, astride its Guul unit joined the rest of the team. Athrun looked to his left and saw the newcomer's DINN along with a Guul unit carrying four second-generation attack drones. According to his initial impression of the mobile suit's masked pilot, the pilot seemed quite skilled at intermediate range engagement. Somehow, the man's fighting style had something to do with the drones that were fixed on the accompanying Guul.

According to Talia, Archangel had been labeled as an international terrorist group, including by PLANTs. Hence, there was no need to spare any effort to defeat it while having to fear repercussions from any nation. Also, because of the declaration, there was no need to fear the fact that the white mobile suit, whose name was finally known as Prometheus, powered by nuclear reactor being revealed. After all, terrorists wouldn't subscribe to any convention, including the one banning nuclear reactor being installed on mobile suit.

Athrun was a professional soldier who put his duty to PLANTs above everything else. However, that didn't mean he has to like it. After all, everyone onboard Minerva knew that Archangel wasn't the one behind the attack; Minerva was trailing the legged ship almost all the time so he could tell that it was impossible to launch an attack half a globe away. Besides, those onboard Archangel weren't terrorists. They were enemies, being the ones behind the attack on ZAFT's base but certainly not terrorists that bombed civilian centers.

Yet, he also understood the fact that the event was to ZAFT's advantage because it would have the chance to cover up the fact that one of its prototypes was nuclear powered, a secret that must be protected at all cost as millions of life, including his mother who was still kept captive in one of the colonies, were at stake. Still, Kira was onboard the ship and he wanted to find out the truth about what happened that caused his best friend to fight for the enemy.


	12. Assault on terror

"We have a transmission from Minerva," Abby said. "The captain requests for an encrypted channel."

"Put her on," Murrue issued her order.

A second later, Talia's face appeared on the screen. **"Good afternoon, Captain Murrue."**

"Good afternoon."

"**Today is a rather good weather, isn't it? DSSD's meteorological satellite EPS1 predicted that the sky will be clear in the Indian Ocean." **

"Oh, thank you for the information."

"**Are you saying that you've not been accessing the satellite service?" **Talia smiled.** "Hmm? As expected, you have kept clear of information network to reduce transmission. But I didn't expect you to actually avoid open access network."**

Being a neutral party in the conflict, Deep Space Survey & Development organization provided satellite services to every faction; services would have disrupted due to the war such as weather forecasting and Earthsphere Positioning System. However, to ensure complete transparency as well as ensure complete privacy, DSSD would not keep any information that could be used to identify the user of its services, be it military, private or civilians sectors. For example, if a request had been put to acquire meteorological information for a particular location, the network would simply process the request and then immediately purge any record of the transmission upon completion of the request. No statistical data are available even to the researches involved.

Murrue shrugged. "Well, no one could be too careful these days."

"**Agreed." **

"So, apart from delivering the weather report, do you have any other reason for contacting me?" The Archangel had an idea about why Talia contacted her but would use the opportunity to stall for time as well as think of the strategy to counteract whatever plan Talia might have.

"**Of course not. I would not be doing something without a good reason.** The Captain of Minerva crossed her fingers in front of her face and stared at the screen. **"You do realize that a good weather means aircrafts can move about freely, don't you?"**

"Are you saying…"

"**Yes. Our units are already airborne and are coming your way. Heh, it looks like you really should be paying attention to weather report in the first place." **

Murrue could feel a sweat rolling down the side of her head even though the bridge was air conditioned. Still, she smiled, trying to hide her nervousness. "Our mistake. But you're warning us of your attack. What is your game?"

"**Game?" **Talia asked. **"I told you earlier: I wouldn't do something without a good reason. Despite not accessing information networks, I'm sure you have received terrestrial broadcasts of your so-called terrorist activities."**

"Our involvement is greatly exaggerated."

"**Of course, we know that. However, you would be a fool to think that we will not take advantage of this situation. Please look at the following declaration."**

"We have received a document attachment," Abby reported.

"Put it on another screen," Murrue responded. When it appeared on the other screen, she read it. It was a joint statement from the majority of nations in Earthsphere condemning the group of terrorists that hijacked an Alliance' ship and use it to commit terrorist acts all over the world. Of course, the declaration was referring to Archangel and its crew members. "So, we're being wanted by the whole world. So what do you expect from us?"

"**A full unconditional surrender of Archangel and Prometheus."**

"Prometheus?"

"**The white prototype."**

It took Murrue all she can to maintain a straight face. She remembered that Flay had mentioned something like that way back. If that was the case, then Flay must have known more about the prototype than she let on. However, Talia seemed to possess new information about it as well. What the hell had happened in such a short time? "In return?"

"**We will treat you are war prisoners in accordance to Corsica Treaty as well as Geneva Convention. Failure to comply will of course mean we will treat you as terrorists and react accordingly."**

"You're sure you want to do that? You do know about Spectrum or Prometheus, do you?"

"**Enough to know that we can blow it sky high and not having to worry a thing."**

Things looked rather bleak as Talia had already possessed verified information on Spectrum.

"**In case you're wondering, we also don't have to worry about destroying Archangel. After all, no nation would claim connection with an established terrorist group. We give you time to consider our demand until our mobile suits get range of the ship. Any notable hostile movement on your part or negative response or even lack of any response at will be interpreted as non-compliance and will replied with appropriate military action. Have a good day." **Talia said before signing off.

"Abby, sound the general quarters," Murrue said.

"Yes, ma'am," Abby responded while pressing the button that would cause alarm to blare throughout the ship.

* * *

Talia raised her eyebrows at the dissatisfaction being shown by her Executive Officer. "Do you have anything to say, Arthur?"

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am."

"Granted."

"Why are we being chivalrous and call Archangel to warn them about our upcoming attack? After all, they are terrorists!"

Talia shook her head. "Arthur, Arthur. Sometimes you make me wonder… "

"About what, ma'am?"

"Whether I annoyed the higher-ups that they send you here to make my life more complicated than it's supposed to be. They are terrorists, but only in name. They were not behind the attacks and you know that."

"Still, we shouldn't have wasted our chance to launch a surprise attack on the ship. You know that even if we offer surrender to the ship, it wouldn't accept it."

Talia sighed. "You haven't been paying attention to my words. I told the Archangel's Captain that I don't like to do something without a good reason. I already know Archangel probably wouldn't surrender. If the captain had considered surrendering, she would have counter-offered with something, anything that would show an effort to negotiate."

"But you told her that we will not negotiate."

"Of course there would be negotiation if she's really interested. After all, we have the advantage here, but the advantage is not really an overwhelming one: both of us know that."

"Wait," Arthur said, becoming confused. "You're saying that you know that Archangel wouldn't surrender."

"Even from the very beginning."

"Then why did you call Archangel?"

"It is like I told you; I don't do something without a good reason. The other reason is because I personally would like to be proven wrong." Talia turned toward Meyrin. "Was it enough?"

"Yes, captain," the 'Success' operator reported from her console. "In fact, you managed to do it with a lot of time to spare."

"Good." It was as Talia had predicted: the Archangel's captain wasn't really experienced in warfare tactics and she intended to take advantage of that.

* * *

Kira arrived at the locker room only to see Flay was checking her flight suit. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Minerva is launching an attack and I'm prepping up."

"Can't we reason with them? Besides, Athrun..."

Suddenly, Kira found himself being slammed into a locker with surprising force by the woman. He was about to protest but found himself silenced by the cold stare she gave him. "Look, Kira. You may not notice this but we're in a war right now, a war that had cost many lives and will continue to do so. And your best friend who likes macadamia and pecan ice cream when he was small now happens to be piloting a mobile suit on the opposite side, or have you forgotten the fact that right now we have been declared terrorists?"

Kira grabbed her hand and pushed it away slowly from his chest. "I haven't forgotten that."

"I know that. But are you willing to fight your own friend?"

"I…"

"Are you willing to pull the trigger?"

"…"

"As I suspected." Flay withdrew her hand. "Actually, there is one way to avoid fighting but I don't think everyone will agree with it."

"What do you mean?"

"We have a hostage onboard the ship, a rather valuable one at that."

"You mean Lacus?"

The woman nodded and then raised her hand to stop Kira for saying anything more. "I know that you're going to say that it's not right and Captain Murrue will not go with the plan; it just hypothetical idea. Besides, even if we managed to barter our way with Minerva by surrendering her to ensure our safe passage, we will screw up the whole PLANTs political system and with it screw everything else. No, that move is so dangerous that even I can't imagine following through it."

"Then, what should we do?"

"I told you earlier, we have to fight or else Murrue would have decided on other options. Even surrender is not an option, not unless you suggest we kill Clyne and hide her body before they arrive onboard." Flay was about to continue but stopped. "Must resist making that remark," she looked away and muttered. She then turned back to Kira. "Look, I want you to fight. Murrue, no matter how she denies it, would be assured if you fight. However, we know that we shouldn't force you and Murrue will stop me from forcing you. However, one thing for sure, if you go out there," she motioned heavenward, "there's no hesitation, no trying to parlay with the enemy. In fact, I will stop you if I think that you're going repeat what you did during the attack by the Atlantic Federation's CSG; there's no point in going out there if you only want to become a moving target instead of fighting back."

* * *

When she started walking toward the hangar, she didn't know the reason why but Lacus finally understood it when she saw Kira walking briskly toward the place. "Kira?"

The said man stopped and turned toward her. "Lacus?"

She wasn't sure why but she had to say something to him, "You're going?"

Kira fisted his hand and nodded.

"But I thought that you're not part of military."

"I'm not." He stared toward something in the distance. "I was assigned to do routine patrols but yet ended up fighting." He then smiled at her; the smile being a thin one but one of honesty. "But if I didn't, I wouldn't have met you."

"You rescued me after all."

"But I don't like the feeling of not doing anything while everyone else is fighting." He sighed. "Perhaps I'm contradicting myself but I wish to know the answer whether this is the correct path.

* * *

"Still no sign of surrender from Archangel?" Talia asked.

"No," Meyrin reported.

Talia let out a disappointed breath. "I guess it all boils down to this after all."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Flay asked.

"I will fight," Kira, seated back to back with her said solemnly.

"No. I was talking about the risk we will face."

"I don't understand. Didn't you say that the mobile suit is safe?"

"I lied, in a way. It is dangerous, but at least it is safer than being killed by the enemy. Can you keep a secret?"

"Huh? We don't have time for this."

"We have. Promise me."

"Okay, okay, I promise.

"Good. You're informed of Spectrum's alternate 'mode'?"

"Yes. The part where it reconfigures some of its body parts as well as have color lines run through it."

"We will probably engage the system."

"But I thought you said that the activation is random!"

"It's not and can be activated by the pilot. However, due to some reasons, one of the pilots that can activate it is you."

Kira swallowed hard, remembering the first time he went inside Spectrum's cockpit and tinkered with the computer. He must have accidentally fumbled with the security settings.

"If the system is engaged, I want to make it clear that it is important you keep calm at all time."

"What happen if I don't?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know. Also, the system's activation may cause you to see hallucinations. You must remember not to fall for it. If that happens, it's the end of us."

"I understand."

"Okay, let's get going." Spectrum began walking toward the linear catapult system when suddenly the hangar became dark.

Suddenly, the main display in the bridge went haywire as the alarm became silent. It was followed by the main light switching off, leaving only emergency light to illuminate the suddenly cavernous structure.

* * *

Murrue stood up. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure," Nuemann answered. "The helm's control is temporarily offline."

"The radar is acting up," Romario added. He knocked on the radar console a few times. "A second there's fifty targets entering radar range and suddenly there's none!"

"Mirage Colloid?" Murrue asked.

"Er, no! Twenty more suddenly appeared twelve kilometers bow side… and they've shifted to stern! No, portside!"

Murrue palmed her face in an effort to calm herself. "Abby, please check how many systems are still operational."

After few moments, the CIC operator answered, "Basic life supports are still functioning. However all other functions are offline except for the communication module."

"They really got us this time," Murrue said in a frustrated manner.

"What are you mean?" Abby asked.

* * *

"Activation of Trojan payload is successful," Meyrin reported. "Archangel's computer system is broadcasting confirmation signal. Apart from that, secondary hacking attack through the normal communication network is successful."

Talia adjusted her cap while smiling. "So, how much control do we have over Archangel? Can we get the computer to automatically raise a white flag?"

"No, the capability to do that is beyond the scope of the attack. However, at the very least we're able to disable the ship's offensive as well as defense subroutines for approximately thirty minutes and three seconds before their inoculation countermeasures will purge the whole attack vectors and restore nominal operations."

Talia was joking about raising the white flag and so didn't expect her SCCS officer to take it literally. But still, the attack was successful and as a result, Archangel was had been crippled by a mere computer worm. Honestly, she couldn't see any chance for the ship to mount defense and was disappointed with its captain who was too hardheaded to realize the precarious situation it was in. "Commence with the attack."

* * *

"Are you sure we don't have to be sea skimming this time?" Dearka asked. All of the mobile suits had fallen into a formation with Aegis leading it.

"You didn't ask that question the last time," Lunamaria replied.

"That's because we didn't know better," Nicol answered.

"Well, unlike last time we don't need to hide as Archangel knows that we're coming. Besides, Captain Talia has given us the go-ahead without any revision to the plan, so that means we have succeeded in disrupting the ship's main computer and with it, the radar capability as well."

"Wait a minute… if they know we're coming wouldn't it be disadvantageous for us?"

"Normally," Lunamaria replied, "but this is anything but normal."

* * *

Flay looked at the person in her screen. "So you're telling me Archangel had been hacked while Murrue is talking to Minerva's captain, and so that's why the linear catapult is not working?"

Abby nodded. **"We believe that they also implanted a computer worm inside the attachment they sent us."**

There was a long sigh. "So what's still working right now?"

"**Apart from basic life support, we're lucky to have communication system is online."**

"The communication system is online because the enemy wants us to surrender, not because we're lucky or anything." There was another reason for the communication system to be online and that was the hacker wanted to know the current situation onboard Archangel as well as allowing him or her to conduct more attacks if the situation required. Revealing that 'tiny' piece information to Murrue wasn't suitable because the captain might order for the communication system to be switched off and there was no other nasty surprise the computer worm currently infesting throughout the ship would pop up should the system be brought offline. "In fact, they're probably monitoring our transmission even as we speak so we shouldn't say anything of secretive nature while on air."

"**Huh?"**

"They managed to open the hangar door manually," Kira announced.

Flay's attention shifted toward the structure. "Initiate launch sequence. She then returned to Abby. **"We'll try to intercept them in order to buy some time for the Spitfires and Skygrasper to launch. Also, please tell Murrue not to be a stick in the mud if we're to have a chance to make it through."**

* * *

Abby turned toward Murrue. "And that's what she said."

Before Murrue could ask further about Flay's statement, a creaking sound caught her attention. The door to the bridge was being opened slowly. When the opening was large enough for a person to enter, a person slipped through. "You!"

"Um, yeah," Lacus said nervously, her right hand behind her head while her left hand holding Haro.

The pink princess then stepped aside, revealing Murdoch's head peering through the opening. "Yamato had sent Missy here to help."

"Help? What do you mean?" Murrue waved around her. "The system is currently offline so we have to wait until the backup system to kick in."

"Um, there's where Flay said I can help," Lacus offered.

The meaning of Flay's words hit Murrue; if she was to ensure that her ship has a chance of escaping, she would have to use Lacus. But rather than telling her about it through transmission and risk revealing it to any eavesdropping ZAFT, Flay sent Lacus to the bridge to tell her in person.

"Even though I can't fight in a battle, at least I can try to inoculate the system," Lacus added, thinking that the captain's silence as doubt to her ability, pointing to the small mechatronic besides her. "After all, I have Haro here."

Murrue didn't understand how such a small thing could be useful but she was willing to consider everything. "Very well."

* * *

"Huh?"

"What is it, Meyrin?" Talia asked.

"Someone is attempting a system clean," Meyrin neutrally answered even as her hands were busy entering attempts commands into her console.

"Threat to the whole operation?"

"The programmer seem to have a capability to tend to respond to my simultaneous attacks." The statement implied that however the person that was trying to clean Archangel's network was either highly skilled or a Coordinator.

"Will it compromise the mission?"

"I'm not sure. What I can say is Archangel's downtime may be reduced. However, I will try to slow down the defender action by conducting more attacks."

Talia knew from Meyrin's voice that her adversary wasn't a match to begin. However, there was something else that seemed to bothering the latter. "What's wrong?"

"From my attempts to overflow the network buffer as well as mount a denial of service attack, I conclude that the person is using a powerful portable mainframe."

* * *

**"HARO! HARO!" **The spherical thing uttered while flapping it ears. However, it didn't move around as it usually did and instead remained stationary to prevent a cable linking it and Archangel main computer from becoming disconnected.

Murrue closed her eyes.

**"HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO!" **It eyes flashed a few times.

She could feel her jaw tightened.

**"HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO!"**

"Look, Lacus," she began slowly. "I really appreciate your helping us."

**"HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO!**

"but is there any way you can switch off that sound?"

"I'm sorry," Lacus apologized amid her pet making the weird sound. "My fianc, err, the person who built Haro has programmed that behavior into its basic subroutine. Every time it uses significant processing power, it would make such that sound as well as flap its ears."

"But it also makes the sound even while jumping around," Abby, who had gave her seat to Lacus in order to allow the latter to work on the computer, said.

"Of course. After all jumping around requires a rather significant processing power to do it."

"I hope I have the chance to meet your friend one day," Romario said.

"Really?"

"Yes. I really would like to deck him for making such a senseless 'improvement'."

* * *

Athrun cleared his throat.

"Rather a strange time to be catching a virus, even though it's not supposed to be feasible," Dearka remarked. DNA manipulation meant almost everyone's immune system had been boosted, including Naturals to the effect that common colds had been reduced to uncommon colds.

"Focus," Yzak reminded.

"Full energy airborne radar detected," Lunamaria announced. "As predicted."

"Thank you, Luna. Please identify the signature of the mobile suit we're facing."

"Roger."

Even before Luna replied, Athrun knew the answer. The mobile suit they have identified as Prometheus, probably being piloted by his friend.

"It's the white no-face jackass Prometheus."

Everything was as Captain Talia predicted. Rather than launching a similar surprise attack like the last time, the current strategy was to contact Archangel under the guise of issuing an ultimatum and then use the opportunity to launch an electronic attack to hamper the ship's electronic system. With it being successful, his team had to achieve one of the following two goals: defeat Prometheus or capture Archangel; if push came to shove, they were to destroy the ship.

A long range visual of Prometheus popped up as their group got closer and closer to it.

* * *

"What should we do now?" Kira asked.

"We wait until they enter our weapons' range. Since they are obviously conserving their energy and at the same time baiting us to go away from Archangel, we should remain where we are." Flay answered. "I never thought that they would find a way to integrate a Striker pack with another prototype."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked as he watched the mobile suit that was being piloted by his best friend. Or could it be considered as his former best friend?

"When the Strike mobile suit frame was being developed, it was envisaged that eventually, it would be able to change its weapons and equipment on the fly, in effect becoming the first truly versatile mobile suit, something that GINN failed to achieved. But during testing, the same problem cropped up. You want to have an artillery mobile suit, it's not sufficient to simply slap it with some high powered weapons and hope for the best. There are some other requirements such as targeting computer, suitable fire control system as well as extra cooling system. Same thing with if you want to have a transformable, just like Zala's. Eventually, instead of fifteen planned units of the same prototype, we have five different ones, with the extremely high cost of development causing the other ten to be shelved."

"Wow, you really know a lot."

"Basic economics. It is cheaper to come up with similar units rather than come up with different units."

"No, what I mean is about the mobile suit's development."

Flay was silenced for a few seconds. "Well, I was in the intelligence circle, so we always know about this kind of things."

"I see."

* * *

"Should we proceed with the current strategy?" Rey asked.

"Do you think we can keep it and the other defenders busy while two of our mobile suits make dash toward the ship?" Athrun questioned back, addressing everyone instead.

"I think so," Lunamaria answered.

"Same here." Yzak added. Both he and Lunamaria were given the task to attack Archangel.

"So, we'll continue with the current plan."

Dearka shrugged. "The 'dynamic duo'," he said while grinning, referring to the animosity between the two of them, "think that they can work together so I'm in."

"Me too," Nicol replied.

"So we're to continue with Tactic A-12," Athrun concluded.

"Prometheus is changing color," Lunamaria reported.

Even though he had seen it a few times, Athrun still couldn't understand the reasoning behind the transformation as well as the trimming's color change. Unlike ZAFT's five, or accurately four, prototypes, the color change didn't seem to have anything to do with Phase Shift armor. If that was the case, what was the purpose of color change? For example, the green trimming that appeared along with the transformation had to mean something.

"Prometheus is drawing its two beam rifles," Luna continued reporting as it held the two weapons by its sides.

Dearka chuckled. "What, it's going to fire, despite blooming?"

It was a well-known fact that beam weapons had smaller range in atmosphere due to the blooming effect. A beam would energize the air molecules where it traveled, creating plasma breakdown from atmospheric air. The process dissipated a lot of energy from the beam itself, thereby reducing its penetration power. An almost similar effect was the reason behind beam weapon's ineffectiveness when used underwater. Because of that, even though greater strides had been made in the field, beam weapons had yet to replace projectile based weaponries

"I don't like it," Yzak said. "If they know that we know, why bother?"

* * *

"_Ranged Engagement mode has achieved nominal operation. Fire Control System had been synchronized with Pandora Key's neural network at 75.23% efficiency." _

Kira wasn't sure what the computer was referring too but he could feel the effect of it. He could only perceive what was in front of Spectrum but richness of the information flooding inside him was on another level compared to when he was fighting in Assault mode. He remembered reading a memoir of a sniper where the sniper described that when he was targeting his mark just before pulling the trigger, everything else ceased to exist, leaving the two of them. However what Kira was feeling at that time, if it was to be describe, was everything else exist only to accentuate his opponents' existence and thus made it easier to target them.

He picked two targets to aim and fired.

* * *

"Impossible!" Rey uttered when he realized that the white mobile suit had fired at them.

"ALL UNITS, SCATTER!" Athrun ordered.

However, even as they moved away from the shots, their reactions were already too late. The shots hit the wing of Lunamaria's DINN and pierced the Guul unit that was carrying Dearka's Buster.

"I'm losing altitude!" Lunamaria reported. "I'm trying to regain control."

"I am also losing some power," Dearka reported as well.

Athrun stared at Prometheus, wondering whether it was Kira who had fired at them. Even though he was leading the attack on Archangel, he couldn't help but felt a sense of betrayal for the shots. He stomped his feelings down. "Minerva. We require anti-air support at position 54-23-12. Mission tactic has been changed to F-7. "

"**Okay," **Meyrin acknowledged.

Prometheus must have expended a lot of energy to fire off the two shots, so there was no way it could have recovered immediately. Besides, even if it could indeed recover its energy, it fire immediately because the shots should have produced tremendous amount of heat that the beam rifles should cooled first before they could be reuse. That small span of time would enough for his team to approach it. Athrun glanced at Lunamaria. She managed to recover but it seemed that her stabilizer had damaged. "Dearka. Get Lunamaria's DINN and return home."

"What?"

"You're just a liability if you continue on," Yzak explained on Athrun's behalf.

"Order's an order," Dearka said as his Buster caught hold of Lunamaria's DINN and the two shared the rather cramped platform with the latter's mobile suit provided thrust to render it almost weightless. "Let's head off to the sunset, princess."

* * *

_He stood on the platform overlooking the deactivated mobile suit._

"_The test run is progressing perfectly, isn't it?" a voice asked. _

_He glanced at the voice before turning back to see the mobile suit. "Yes. The armor's optimization is at ninety percent."_

"_That's good to know."_

"_So? Is there any reason for the famous Creuset to come and visit me?" _

"_No, just a friendly visit." The masked man moved to a spot next to him and leaned on the railing. "After all, you and I, we're completely different but at the same time similar in fate. If I may say so, we're like twin."_

"_I don't want such a gross comparison." _

"_Sorry about that," the man said while chuckling. Then suddenly the chuckle broke down and he began to cough uncontrollably. _

_Kira merely kept quiet until the cough had abated. _

"_It looks like I'm quite unsightly today," Creuset apologized. _

"_I don't mind. After all, that's why you're wearing a mask, isn't it?"_

_The man chuckled again; this time the chuckle was restrained, "As mean as always. It's good thing you're not a doctor or else you would have killed your patient with your mouth."_

"_I was, during '55 outbreak of Type S2."_

"_You realize that this is the third time you said that to me?"_

"_And that's because you said the same thing to me three times."_

_"You're right." Creuset was silent for a while. "They will be coming for you in the morning."_

_"I know. They've putting me under surveillance from the very beginning of this project. I would assume that they haven't found about my recovery or else they would have pulled me out."_

_"True." _

_"And the reason why you're allowed here at this critical moment is because they don't see you as a threat."_

_"I will cease to be, soon. Right now I'm already at the terminal stage so by the time you wake up I wouldn't be there to see you." Creuset smiled turned toward him and smiled. "This is the first time and the last time I will admit to you. When I came to know you, I was jealous. My 'father', when his son was born, found out the child was 'diluted' and didn't inherit his 'superior' genes and so conspired with the monster by the name of Hibiki to create me, to fashion a clone out of his own image. Hibiki, in his haste to siphon money for his own selfish project, manage to create me but not perfectly. When I finally have the chance to kill the two of them, I really took my time to savor it. However, when comparing my situation with your so-called your fake 'immortality', I realized that in a way, I'm better off than you."_

_"You're the one who said that people could only understand the world from their own experience and senses." _

_"True." Creuset turned to walk away. "Well, it's been interesting to know you in all your 'incarnations'." He then stopped. "Oh, I remembered something I've been meaning to ask. You have been around since both of them; or even earlier. Will you support Durandal's idea, or Glenn's?"_

_"I wonder which one is dumber. But how about you? What is your opinion on the matter?" _

_"I simply think humanity cannot be saved from eventual destruction by its own greed and hubris. You and I are perfect example of that." _

_Kira smiled forlornly. "Perhaps your path is the correct one."_

_"I wonder about that myself, but it's not I have the power to do what needs to be done." Creuset began to walk. "Since this is the last time we will meet, I'm here just to say that it's been nice knowing you."_

"Kira!" Flay's voice called out, ending his reverie. "Snap out of it! The missiles are coming our way!"


	13. Elaine Bakhtiar

Kira's eyes widened at the number of missiles being displayed at the radar heading toward his way. Despite the number being remarkably smaller than the one he had faced, it was no reason for him to be complacent and calm. He wasn't sure what had happened at that particular time but he was quite sure that he wasn't having the same experience at that present time.

"Kira, I'm transferring the flight and gunnery control to you."

"Huh? Why? How about you?"

"I'll be doing the computation."

"Computation?"

However, Flay didn't answer his question. Kira tried to look back to see her but the alarm blared and he had to turn back to face the threats.

"_Change of mode Ranged Engagement to either Defensive or Atmospheric mode suggested."_

"Which one should we choose, Flay?"

Flay still didn't answer him.

"_Threat of destruction imminent. Change of mode Ranged Engagement to either_

_Defensive or Atmospheric mode suggested."_

"Flay!"

"_Warning, 15 seconds before destruction. Change of mode Ranged Engagement to either Defensive or Atmospheric mode or emergency pilot ejection suggested."_

The missiles were already visible in the display and closing fast.

"Cover! Cover!."

"_Option not recognized."_

"Damn it! Defensive! Defensive full power!"

* * *

Athrun stared at his screen as numerous missiles met their target and multiple explosions blotted out the sky. According to his calculation, the destruction force of at least five of the missiles would be more than enough to damage even a Phase Shift armored mobile suit so the chance of Kira escaping destruction when hit with at least twelve of those was abysmally small.

However, when the explosions had abated, everyone including he were shocked when Prometheus appeared undamaged at all as a spherical energy barrier surrounding it.

"What the hell?" Yzak uttered.

"Meyrin!" Athrun called, "Do you have any information on the system? Is it Armure Lumiere?"

"**I'm working on it,"**Meyrin answered distractedly.

"Do you think it's Armure Lumiere?" Nicol asked.

"If that's the case then we're in deep trouble," Athrun answered. The so-called barrier system was installed on Earth Alliance's CAT1-X Hyperion and could block both physical and energy weapons but at the same time allowed the mobile suit counterattack through the barrier while using its specialized beam weapons. However, being installed on a battery operated mobile suit, its main limitation was the high energy requirement, capping the total operation to only five minutes. If Spectrum also mounted the same unit, then it could keep the barrier up for a long, long time.

"**Energy analysis indicates that the system is probably a multi-phase beam emitter, designed to counteract beam weaponry aside and triggering premature explosions in reactive ordnances."**

"Even I understand that," Yzak said, "That means the mobile suit is not using Armure Lumiere. If that's the case, then it would be easier," he said as Duel closed in while activating its beam saber. "If you can't penetrate the barrier with a beam rifle, maybe you can pierce it with a more focused weapon."

* * *

Kira's eyes widened as he watched Duel stabbed its beam weapon through Spectrum's barrier. The barrier was holding up but he could see that the beam saber's tip was slowly penetrating through the barrier.

"The barrier isn't really designed for mobile suit attack," Flay said calmly, as if answering his unasked question.

"Then what should I do?" Kira asked, not sure whether he really want to know the reason why Flay was quiet when the two of them were facing those barrage of missiles.

However, before he got the answer, he already pressed the thrusters.

Spectrum moved away as multiple kinetic penetrators passed through the position where it was standing a moment ago. The mobile suit named Blitz had tried to take advantage of him being distracted to sneak an attack and unlike the missiles, the kinetic penetrators wouldn't be set off by barrier.

Kira raised Spectrum's rifle to shoot at Duel but to his surprise the pressing of the trigger didn't do anything except causing a wisp of light to appear at barrel for a split second. "What happened?"

"Defensive mode will reroute a large portion of the energy to the beam barrier generator." Flay answered as Spectrum continued to evade Duel's attack. "However, your instruction caused Spectrum to reroute all of the energy save for the propulsion. So, there's not enough left for the rifle."

"Huh? why didn't you tell me about that?"

"It's rather obvious, with the amount of energy we're using."

* * *

"All units," Athrun called out, "Commence attack! Take down Prometheus!" The order was a bit late since Yzak and Nicol had already engaged the said mobile suit. Athrun knew that very well and the reason why he hesitated. Still it was very hard for him to issue the order.

"FAUST, deployed," Rey commanded. Five units of Fast Aerial Unmanned Strike Terminator launched from their station on board the Guul accompanying his DINN. Even thought it was hastily developed in response to the gunbarrel technology utilised by Alliance, FAUST had improved upon its counterpart, such as carrying beam machine guns, wireless control and as well as able to fly under Earth's gravity pull.

What remained of the strike force commenced their synchronized attack against Prometheus. Yzak was already going through another attack while Nicol was providing fire support with Blitz's "Trikeros" integrated 50mm high-energy beam rifle. From his vector, Athrun observed that even as Prometheus evaded the attacks, its green trimmings slowly changed into blue color. To his puzzlement, he noticed that it became faster as the trimming became fully blue in color.

Yzak attacked again and this time, Prometheus raised its beam saber to block it while at the same time aimed its beam rifle at a FAUST unit that was approaching from another side.

As Athrun watched the destruction of the remote unit, the realization that the information Rey had provided about Prometheus was sketchy at best hit him. It seemed that the mobile suit's two operators weren't to allow Naturals to pilot the mobile suit. The real reason seemed to allow the mobile suit to be piloted by two Coordinators or at the very least talented Naturals; while it was possible for someone to dual wield two very different weapons, doing so using a mobile suit to do so was simply... unthinkable.

And Prometheus was using that factor as advantage to to fight against his team.

"Yzak, fall back!" Athrun commanded.

"What the hell you're talking about?" Yzak replied. "I've got the advantage here! Can't you see that I'm pushing it?"

"You're not." Nichol clarified. "Prometheus is using you as a shield to prevent us attacking."

"What?"

Athrun didn't want to reveal the reason but it is as Nicol surmised. Prometheus looked as it was being pressured by Duel by moving away but the truth was that Duel was being manipulated to prevent Athrun, Nicol and Rey to get a clear shot at Prometheus. He saw that Rey had the mobile suit targeted few times but had to break off when Duel ended up in the reticle.

"Yzak, fall back! That's an order!" Athrun commanded again, this time with more force.

Instinctively Yzak reacted as ordered as all of his battle training took over his personal want.

"Rey, FAUST 1 attack from vector 32-67-12, FAUST 3 from vector 65-21-89." Athrun ordered. He watched as Prometheus evaded the attacks. FAUST 2, vector 23-12-52. Nicol, moved to 44-12-76 and fire after three seconds. Yzak, piercing attack from your position."

* * *

Kira pressed the pedal and pushed the thrusters in reaction to the incoming stab from Duel. Spectrum moved to the side while turning simultaneously. It then elbowed the ZAFT mobile suit's main camera unit, knocking it off balance. Before Spectrum could aim at it with its beam rifle, a remote controlled drone moved in to attack, forcing Kira to abort his intention.

"It looks like their cooperation is getting better," Flay observed calmly.

"I don't think we should be praising them," Kira responded.

"True, but still, their tactic is effectively sealing our movements. It's a good thing we damaged Buster and that other DINN or else we'll be in trouble."

"We are in trouble,"

"No we're not. We have succeeded in our first task."

The play for time has succeeded and the cavalry had arrived in the form of a Skygrasper and a Spitfire.

"Sorry for waiting, kid," Mwu greeted. It took a while for Shawn and I to take off."

"Shinn! Shinn Asuka!" the pilot of the Spitfire insisted. "Why can't you get it right?"

"Eh, you said something, Shawn?"

"Damn you!"

"Mwu, Shinn, are we glad to see you," Kira said, conveniently disregarding their little banter. "A little help here?"

"Sure!" Mwu said as he moved in to attack the DINN that was controlling the remote unit. "Oh, before I forget, we'll have to make do with our current number, as Mir's Spitfire was in the middle of system maintenance when the virus struck and so couldn't be prepped in time."

"Mwu, I've come up with the tactic to defend Archangel," Flay said. "But the tactic will put the two of you in a pinch."

"Is that so? Shawn, what do you think?"

"I don't really care about that, any way is fine," Shinn replied, "And about you calling me Shawn, you know what, I'm not going to care about what you call me,"

"It's as Otaku-boy said, Allster. We'll go along with whatever you cook up."

"Okay, since you're in the whole thing, then we're leaving the four of them in your hands. Bye!"

Flay took over the controls and Spectrum retreated a bit before reconfiguring into its pre-transformation mode.

* * *

"What the hell?" Yzak uttered dumbly as the opponent he was fighting against few seconds prior left the area. "The pilot is running away? Maybe he realized that the precarious state he's in."

"But to completely run away?" Nicol asked incredelously.

"Maybe the pilot is involved in the current conflict by mistake," Athrun remarked. His suspicion that it was Kira who was piloting Prometheus had risen considerably given the rather erratic behavior the mobile suit was displaying. The mobile suit didn't kill Dearka and Lunamaria outright, countered the missiles barrage with what seemed to be a defensive barrier and then fighting Duel only to stall for time.

"It's rather strange," Rey admitted as one of his FAUSTs almost hit the Skygrasper he was fighting against. "And judging from the airwaves between the two remaining units, I think they were surprised as well."

"What should we do after we get right of these two?" Yzak asked as Duel evaded the beam saber stab by the Spitfire he was fighting against.

Athrun could see that there were two options, which was to chase of Prometheus or to destroy Archangel. Logically speaking, it would be prudent to pursue the latter. Yet, it would be best to leave the decision to Captain Talia. "I will contact Minerva."

* * *

"Captain," Meyrin announced. "Athrun reported that Prometheus has fled. Request course of action."

"Proceed with the current plan: damage or destroy Archangel. We will pursue Prometheus later after it is isolated."

"Yes, ma'am," Meyrin replied as she relayed the order to Athrun. Even as she did it, she couldn't help feeling that something was off. If Prometheus' pilot didn't want to fight, why didn't he run away in the first place? Plus, according to the data Athrun had provided, its flight was parallel to the path between Minerva and Archangel; there were a lot more vectors more suitable for running away. Also, why did the movement seemed rather familiar to her?

"Meyrin, status report of our cyber attack on Archangel."

"I've encountered fierce resistance so there's a chance that the estimate has to be revised."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Whoever the programmer is, I believe that he is writing countermeasures even as he is inoculating the damage we've inflicted."

"Can't you reroute the attack."

"Sure, I'll try to do th… oh my god!" Meyrin gasped in horror. "It's Bakhtiar's RoFA!"

Everyone inside the bridge turned toward her. "ROFA? Explain," Talia commanded.

"Please recall Aegis back to Minerva first!" the SCCS operator pleaded.

Talia narrowed her eyes. "Very well. But I want a proper explanation for this."

"There is," Meyrin sent a brief message telling Athrun to return to the ship as fast as possible. After the transmission had been concluded, she continued working on her computer console while beginning her explanation. The test pilot for Strike Rouge, Elaine Bakhtiar had also written on mobile suits tactics. One of tactics that had been covered was Rook Flank Attack or simply referred to as RoFA. The tactic involved purposely showing confusion among ones' own force in order to convince the enemy that the force was in disarray. Of course, any commander will then seek to capitalize on the advantage and would press forward. However, that's where the trap would be sprung.

As Meyrin went through her explanation, Talia found herself having epiphany about her knowledge on mobile suit era warfare; a good portion of her knowledge in warfare was obsolete. When the war broke out, she was among the many ZAFT military officers who were concerned with the fact that the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty the PLANTs political leaders had signed would have put them at the disadvantage since Earth Alliance had a large ratio of mobile armors compared to ZAFT's mobile suits. However, the first massive engagement between ZAFT's mobile suits and Earth Alliance's mobile armors had showed them the treaty had inadvertently benefitted them. Yet, she, among others had chalked it up to the ZAFT's mobile suits being technologically superior than the Allaince mobile armors.

There were others who felt otherwise, one of them would eventually test pilot Strike Rouge: Elaine Bakhtiar.

Of course, Talia had heard about the person before. In fact, she had read the treatise written by the person explaining that ZAFT was not properly exploiting Boulding's Loss of Strength Gradient theory in order to defend against Alliance' invasion force. Kenneth Boulding, a prominent economist and system theory in the previous AD era, had argued that geographic distance between the attacking nation and the defending nation would reduce the ability of the attacker to project its strength due logistical factors such as the need to maintain supply line.

In the current war, each military space ship battleship, regardless of whether it belonged to ZAFT or Earth Alliance, was designed to be totally independent and self-sufficient attacking force and could operate independently despite being part of the fleet; it was its own gunboat, its own carrier and even its own supply ship. This contrasted with a naval military ship on Earth where it could serve a specialist role in the fleet.

This difference made it a logical consideration for mobile units to provide protection to their originating carrier though this clashed with the requirement to mount any offensive operation far from the ship; not few pilots returning from a successful operation only to discover that their carrier was destroyed and they themselves would die due to dwindling oxygen as well as energy supply. Even if there was a friendly ship nearby, there was still the risk that the ship wouldn't be able to take them. When a ship sank in the middle of an ocean, a friendly ship could take them in. However, that decision may cause danger for the ship's crew in outer space due factors such as oxygen usage. So, unless it was a suicide mission, mobile units rarely operated far away from their carrier because of their need to provide protection or, as some tactics suggested, splitting the force into two parts: one to stage the attack and the other to depend the ship.

It went without saying that use of nuclear powered mobile units would have reduced the need for a carrier ship to carry them. Earth Alliance could directly attack PLANTs from its bases using its mobile armors without the need to have carrier ships. Also, since there was almost no need for energy-efficient propulsion system, it could have developed very high speed mobile armors that would have been hard to aim and shoot down. However, ZAFT would also be able to do the same thing as well.

It was a good thing that the treaty had been ratified by everyone.

Elaine had felt that while making the military space ship totally independent was probably unavoidable, she had expressed her dissatisfaction in the manner it was carried out. Due to ZAFT's military structure, its soldiers would have an almost fanatical loyalty to the ship they were based on and that was strengthened by the way ZAFT organized its military around 'group' which have a particular ship captain being responsible for his or her own ship and was given the power to act accordingly. While this was good in a way as they could easily be nimble and react to the battle, ZAFT's groups were, on a whole, less coordinated than their Alliance counterpart. Also, she had proposed that any successful attack by Alliance on ZAFT's carriers would demoralize the latter's soldiers more compared to when the situation is reversed.

"So, if you what you're saying is true, then Prometheus will launch a direct attack on Minerva, hoping to destroy us first?" Talia asked.

"Yes," Meyrin confirmed, not even looking back as she was busy conducting the cyber warfare against Archangel's defender, whoever that person was

It was rather frightening that how the enemy seemed to use one of the tactics ZAFT had developed against itself. Talia admitted to herself; she had made a very bad tactical mistake, a similar one to what Marco had made. A self-contained fighting force consisting of a single ship may be effective both in space and on Earth. Despite that, she should have adapted naval strategy and tactics rather than using the same ones she used while in space. Despite that, she had no time to be kicking herself in the back. She had to rectify her mistake and hoped that it wouldn't cost everyone their life. "Arthur, condition red. Prepare for mobile suit combat."

"Condition Red!" her XO acknowledged. "Prepare for Mobile suit combat!"

As the bridge began to lower, she continued. "Chen, load Dispars into the missile tubes. Meyrin, launch our interceptor drones."

"But ma'am, that would require significant processing power to be diverted away from our cyber attack."

"I know, but if what you're saying is correct, we have no choice. Just set the current attack to automatic because I need you to concentrate on delaying Prometheus as long as possible."

"Understood."

Few seconds later, the first interceptor drone took off from the middle linear catapult.

* * *

"Why aren't they retreating?" Kira asked. "Don't tell me they haven't realized what we're going to do?"

"Don't tell me…" Flay trailed.

"Flay?"

The redhead didn't answer it immediately. "No, they know it all right. After all it is an obvious ploy."

"Then why aren't they returning home?"

"Because they double dare us to continue our attack. They know for certain that only few of their mobile suits could return back to defend Minerva, so they probably send one or two. The rest would continue to try to break through our defense. From their action, they're telling us that they're willing to take the risk in order to destroy us. Even if we retreat right now, it would only spur them to continue their fight against us."

Kira gulped. It seemed that the ruse they carried out against Minerva had failed. "So will we be facing against the two ZAFT mobile suits?"

"Probably not. From our speed and angle of approach, we wouldn't meet them unless the fight drags on. But as for the red one… We'll figure that out later,"

In reference to his question, a screen showed yet another barrage of multiple missiles coming their way. It was followed by another screen showing few drones armed with few interceptors. Kira's grip on the control tightened. That wasn't what expected.

* * *

"Our missiles are being shot down," Chen reported.

"Meyrin!" Talia asked. She had begun to suspect that whatever defensive ability that Prometheus displayed when it engaged Minerva's mobile suits earlier on wasn't turned on all the time, unlike Phase Shift armor or else there would have been no need to shoot down the missiles.

Meyrin, who had donned a helmet display as well put on a pair of gloves. "Unmanned interceptor group is approaching engagement area in t-minus one minute. Permission to shift 54.21 percent of Minerva's processing power to the control."

Basic life support would require 23.90 percent of processing power while 39.05 percent was required normal combat status which include space vernier control, full radar and countermeasures suite, normal weapon fire control as well as CIWS. Diverting the amount of processing power requested by Meyrin would leave the ship unable to maintain flight on Earth due to its massive aerodynamically unstable design. Of course, firing Tanhausser was definitely out of picture because the very high calculation required for the firing solution as well as generate the directing the flow of the antimatter, especially on Earth.

"Approved." It was not like Minerva could hope to outrun Prometheus. "Bart! Where is Athrun?"

"ETA fifteen minute."

What normally considered a short time to wait seemed to stretch into infinity, in Talia's opinion

"Interceptor group engaging target," Meyrin reported from her console as her hands began to move around, as if holding moving something.

"They're completely different compared to the one we fought," Kira said as Spectrum put the distance between it and the drones attacking it. Spectrum had shifted to its Aerial mode to maneuver against the drones.

"The movement is faster. Could it be…" Flay trailed. "Kira, transfer the control to me."

"How do I do that?"

"Don't talk. Just roll your tongue and clenched your mouth."

"And then?"

"Don't open your mouth! Just grunt an answer. Do you understand?"

"Hngh."

"Whatever it is, focus on staying awake. Can you do that?"

"Hmm!"

"I take it you understand. Well then, please focus."

Kira was about to answer in affirmative when he felt as if he was rammed by a rampaging herd of elephants and then being stepped on by the said herd. It took him all of his efforts to remain conscious.

With Spectrum in her control, Flay continued to evade the attacks and then fired twice above Spectrum and then fired another two shots below it.

* * *

Meyrin froze in her seat. From what the enemy was doing, it was if the pilot was… it was impossible! She tried to prevent it from making another move but it was too late. Prometheus shot to its left, to its right and repeated the attacks, finishing it with frontal shots with its left hand and right hands.

"No…" she trailed.

"Our drones are being disabled!" Chen reported.

"They were destroyed?" Talia asked.

"No! It's just like they're flying around aimlessly."

"Meyrin! What happened to the drones?"

"Impossible…" the SCCS operator muttered. "To know the backdoor of the system. There's no one else that should have known about that…"

* * *

Flay put a palm on her faceplate and shook her head. She didn't need to look her back to find out that Kira had already passed out, causing Spectrum to revert to its initial phase once more. It was to be expected as she also passed out when had been subjected to PANDORA system the first time. Also, unlike him it was intended for her to play the augmenting role or rather the biological CPU part of the mobile suit. Well, in a way it was fortunate that he had passed out since he wouldn't find out what she would be doing.

"To think that it will turn out like this," she said as she removed her helmet.

Spectrum then sped toward Minerva.

* * *

Everyone inside the bridge could only stare at the Prometheus' beam rifles being trained at them. The surprising part was that they were aimed at bunker where the bridge had relocated to. Even though the bunker could probably withstand a direct beam weapon impact, the reality that the pilot knew exactly where to aim didn't bode well for them.

"Prometheus is trying to establish contact…" Meyrin said with tremor with her voice, "using ZAFT channel."

Talia stood up halfway. "ZAFT channel?"

"We have connection."

A video feed showing a redhead wearing flight suit appeared on the screen. **"I really don't have time to waste so I will go straight to the point. Recall all of your mobile suits right now or prepare to be destroyed."**

"We don't deal with terrorists," Talia answered. "After all, we have the advantage here."

The pilot sighed. **"You haven't understood the situation, do you? Even as we speak, Archangel should be regaining most of its disabled functions, as your hacker can attest to that."**

* * *

"We got our radar back," Romario Pal announced. "CIWS is starting up."

"Helms online." Neumann said.

Murrue wiped off the sweat from her eyebrows. Lacus had succeeded in inoculating the virus that had infected Archangel's main computer. "Load Korinthos into the missile tubes. Recall Mwu and Asuka so that they can be within our missile screen."

"Roger," Abby acknowledged, having retaken her seat.

Murrue turned toward Lacus. "Thank you and sorry for making you work for us."

"It's all right," Lacus replied. "Well then, now that my work had been completed, I have to excuse myself."

"Please." Murrue knew that Lacus was feeling a bit conflicted as what she did was tantamount to betrayal to ZAFT. However, it had to be done.

* * *

"**Also, Aegis is still too far away to prevent us from destroying you. You already realized that if Minerva is destroyed right now, the remaining four prototypes will be destroyed as well."**

"So? We're not afraid of your threat."

"**Either you call them back or I would do it for you, through ZAFT channel."**

"You're not able to do that."

"**You know that I'm not lying, especially since this is a ZAFT mobile suit and we're communicating through ZAFT channel. If you don't want believe me then it's all right. But I will tell them to retreat and if they don't comply I will destroy Minerva and the mobile suits while simultaneously broadcasting it to the world.**

Talia's eyes widened as she finally realized the implication of statement. If such thing happened, it would demoralize PLANTs and ZAFT as well as embolden Alliance to attack. But that would only happen if the enemy managed to defeat everyone.

"**You should have practiced your poker face,"** the pilot said with a smirk on her face. Then the expression paved way to a more serious one. **"Call them back."**

Talia lowered her face. However, it was visible that her body was very tense while her fists tightened so hard that the nails cut into her finger. Finally she calmed down and let out a long breath. "Meyrin. Send the signal to retreat." She then raised her head back to look at the pilot in the eye. "Is this satisfactory?"

"**Good."** Prometheus lowered its beam rifles but remained in its place. **"It wouldn't do for Minerva to play the role of a small fry after all."**

"What do you mean?"

"**Have you ever thought that even though Archangel and Spectrum are so dangerous, the High Command is allowing you to act independently?"**

It was a rather obvious question with the obvious answer. Everyone had underestimated the danger Archangel and Prometheus or as refered to as Spectrum posed.

"**Whatever answer that you're thinking of right now, it's not the correct one."**

"Who the hell are you?"

"Obelix-16. Is that you?" Meyrin suddenly blurted. "It is you, isn't it? You're the one who embedded the Konami code into the logic board used in the drones. Besides, even though the eyes have changed a bit I still recognize you!"

"**ChipWitch. I suspected as much," **the woman answered. **"After all, you're the one wrote the networked algorithm for the drones. Plus, only a person of your caliber would be able to mount such an attack."**

"Do you know this person, Meyrin?"

"Yes. We… communicated through online when I was younger, at least until the an accident supposedly claimed her life." Meyrin answered before turning her attention back to the pilot. "How could you betray us? You're one of us but yet you're with the enemy!"

"**Well, it's rather a long story but to make it short, one day I wake up and realized that ZAFT is my enemy."**

"What are you talking about? Are you forgetting that you're a Coordinator, a great one at that?"

Prometheus's shot rocked the bridge slightly. **"Sigh. Must we talk about this again? I thought I told you through our chat that I never was, never am and never will be a Coordinator, literally or physically. In fact, I hate, no, I despise that term."**

"How could you say that, Elaine?"

Talia raised her eyebrows. The person's name was Elaine?

"**Because I'm not one of you in the first place. And by the way, the name's Flay so refrain from calling me with that. Well, it's been great to see that you have become someone great but I have to go now. And before you forget…"**

The white mobile suit executed a reverse back flip and launched an axe kick on Aegis which tried to sneak on it. Even though the Phase Shift armor protected the latter from any physical damage, the force behind the attack caused it to fall from its Guul platform.

"… **I was the one who wrote the article proposing that ZAFT do away with aerial mobile suits and field a normal fighter until the battery efficiency is overcome." **

As Aegis steadied itself and remained afloat using its modified Striker pack, Prometheus stood and did nothing. **"But, great work on the mobile suit's modification. It's a shame you only thought about doing this now. If you have done it earlier, you would have won."**

The mobile suit then left the area at high speed, ramming into Buster and Lunamaria's DINN which were sharing the same Guul unit, causing Buster to nearly fall off the unit if not for its companion catching hold of it.

Everyone inside Minerva's bridge starred at their enemy leaving the area. Finally, Talia broke the silence. "Is she…"

"She was Elaine Bakhtiar, Strike Rouge's test pilot," Meyrin said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Now… she's our enemy."

* * *

"Huh? What happened?" Kira asked as he regain consciousness.

"You're knocked out by Spectrum's PANDORA system just now."

Remembering what they were doing before he passed out, Kira anxiously searched the radar screen. "What happen? Where's Athrun? How about Archangel?"

"I think Archangel is fine. It seemed that the ZAFT mothership suddenly decided to call off the attack, so right now we're on our way back."

"So, we don't have to destroy Minerva?"

"At least for today."

Kira let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness."

"Kira… do you like Lacus?"

"Huh… what are you talking… about? She and I were… childhood friends… um… that's all for now."

"For now?" There was no mistaking the edge inside the question.

"Um… Can we go home first."

"I'm not letting you off until you answer the question. Also, took over Spectrum's control."

"Okay

Flay released the control and let her sink into her chair, closing her eyes. She had no supply of the pills to check the progression of 'that'; even if she had them, it wouldn't do any good. With every passing day, the mission looked more and more impossible. More and more enemy will appear, seeking for their blood. She also had cast away one of her few friends.

Yet, Flay let a soft smile on her lips. Even though the storm was coming, she felt contented sitting back to back with _him_.

At the moment, she would simply enjoy being herself, being _Flay Allster._

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (10th March 2011)**

1. Ah, I've finally managed to write this far. Kudos to anyone who managed to guess the link between 'Elaine Bakhtiar' and Flay. In GS, it was proposed by the director that Flay would pilot Strike Rouge but was turned down by Sunrise executives. So, this chapter and the previous one can be considered as a nod to that little fact. There are a lot of the characters back story that would unravel throughout the story.

2. It may be me, but I received a quite a number of request suggesting KxF with a few not minding KxL and KxF. As it is, the branching point will come soon so it will be at that time I will decide whether to fork the story or just concentrate on KxF arc.

3. Compared to Fallen Angel and Soaring Above, more attention is given to tactics and strategies, including psychological ones compared to a straight out fight. Yes, Spectrum Prometheus can kick ass if needed, but in this chapter, Minerva was defeated by not mere firepower but reverse psychological warfare.


	14. SEED

The look on Talia's face was unmistakably cold and harsh as she stared at Meyrin who was standing in front of her, head hung. "The fact that the enemy knows you personally has caused a considerable amount of suspicion to be cast on you. Do you have anything to say for this, Ensign Meyrin Hawke?"

Still downcast, the said person shook her head slowly.

"I hope you do realize the gravity of your situation. If found guilty, you'll liable to the harshest remedial actions available." Offense such as betraying ZAFT and PLANTs was punishable by death. "Therefore…"

"Wait!" Lunamaria interrupted. "It's not Meyrin's fault that our enemy suddenly know her!"

Talia stared at her from the corner of her eyes. "Be quiet or you'll be charged with insubordination."

Lunamaria opened her mouth to say something but then Athrun put his hand on her shoulder in an effort to remind her not to do anything.

The captain continued staring at the older sister a little longer before shifting her attention towards Meyrin. "Now, before someone rudely interrupted me, even though this is the military, we do follow the principles of _natural justice. _Hence, an inquiry will be carried out and during that time, you will be confined to your quarter." She then turned the girl's guards. "Take her away."

Everyone remained quiet as Meyrin was brought out of the room until Dearka suddenly decided to say his mind, "Captain, with permission, I think that it's not fair for us to be treating her like the guilty party."

"Oh, right. I forgot that you're the Redcoats elite." Talia said while nodding slightly before suddenly banging her table in anger. "So, I would have to explain to you that this is the military and not the civilian circus. Or do you want to be reminded that it's because we didn't defeat Archangel and Prometheus, or Spectrum, or whatever they're calling that white thing, she's in the predicament. Or maybe you need to be made to realize that one of the probable reasons we lost is because she had been collaborating with the enemy?"

"Meyrin will never betray ZAFT!" Lunamaria uttered.

"Oh, do you have the proof to back your statement? Do you really know everything about your sister? Everything?" When Talia saw the woman shrunk a bit from her questions, she smirked. "See, that's just an emotional statement by you."

"But you have yet to procure any evidence to show that she is guilty of working with the enemy," Rey stated.

"True, but I never said that she is working with the enemy."

"It the same thing," Yzak suddenly said, surprising his colleagues.

"Don't insult your intelligence; we already know how low it is." Talia then looked at the display on her desk. "Everyone is dismissed."

"But…" Lunamaria attempted to attract the captain's attention once more.

"Dismissed!"

* * *

"**Strike R, test mission series 651A15, start."**

The mobile suit with pinkish cockpit raised its beam rifle and fired at the targets placed on the asteroids.

"**Strike R, test mission series B689, start."**

Strike R boosted through the testing range, slashing through structures in it.

"**Strike R, test mission series X51669, start."**

The mobile suit didn't move as missiles hit its cockpit one by one.

Meyrin watched the screen. It took her almost two day to do it, but she had finally breached into ZAFT's higher security clearance files. It would have taken almost infinitely longer but thanks to the security code provided by Captain Talia, she managed to bypass a lot of security measures installed in place and began her probe from a higher clearance level.

Before Aegis and the rest of the attack force even landed, the captain had taken her aside, gave her the security code and told her to dig all information on Elaine. To ensure that she would be left alone to do her job and hence not under any possible surveillance, the captain would have her confined; it also served to dispel any lingering suspicion that the two were on good term.

However, Captain Talia was taking a big risk, handing her security code even though Meyrin had an even larger risk because there was no telling what would happen to her if she was found out.

Then again, she was very good at not getting caught and the very few times that she was found out, she ended up befriending Elaine Bakhtiar. Despite more two years had passed, she could remember what happened that day. She had broken into a cluster of unknown network and found what seemed to be algorithm of a prototype network of drones. Normally she would leave it alone because doing so would increase the change of being detected. After all, she hacked systems for the thrill of doing so. However, seeing such network being littered with inelegant codes annoyed her immensely and she ended up rewriting a significant portion of it.

Meyrin had thought that her exploits were not detected but a month later, while on the way home from her school with her sister, a girl around her age came, introduced herself as Elaine Bakhtiar, her longtime friend. She was about to deny that she knew the person but then the latter suggested that they go through to the nearest ice cream café, suggesting they go for 'Strawberry Factory' or 'Banana Tropicana'. That simple request shocked her because only Luna knew that she liked the two flavors. Realizing that the stranger was more than what she claimed to be, Meyrin asked her sister to go home first, no wanting her to be involved should something happen. Meyrin then followed the stranger to the place, not sure what going to happen.

When her chosen Strawberry Factory was being delivered along with the Elaine's order, Meyrin decided to skip over the formalities and get right to the point, asking how in the world the other girl knew her preference. Smiling before taking a mouthful, Elaine replied that she had put Meyrin under surveillance for two weeks. Elaine then complimented her work with the network she had broken into. At that statement, Meyrin felt her blood froze as she began imagining all kind of scenarios that would happen to her. Maybe she would be taken into custody, locked inside a room and the being forced to wear a collar and then being forced to calleher captor as master…

She was brought out of her daydream when Elaine shook her shoulder gently.

Meyrin blushed at what she had imagined. Sometimes, people and even she herself wonder whether she was really a Gemini rather than a Pieces; not many people managed to twist a dire situation in a masochistic daydream.

Elaine, mistaking her for being nervous, clarified that she had taken credit for the modification in order to prevent the security team from finding out about the breach of security. She then began asking Meyrin about how the latter managed to come up with such a novel approach to the drone networking and Meyrin was only happy to reply.

Two hours later, and six sundaes between the two of them, Meyrin and Elaine became very good friends.

Although it was the only time they met face to face, they kept in touch frequently. Later, Meyrin would find out or rather managed to pry out of computer system that Elaine was working as a test pilot for the ZAFT's top secret next generation mobile suit as well being its strategic analyst. When she mentioned that she knew about those facts to Elaine, remarking that Elaine was certainly a true Coordinator, she had receive a mild rebuke from the girl who insisted that she shouldn't be considered as a Coordinator. Their friendship would continue on for a few more months until one day Elaine stopped responding and any effort to contact her as well as the computer network connected to her end in failure. Meyrin finally decided to stop, attributing her failures to Elaine being involved in another secretive projects and the network security being upgraded to prevent intrusion.

Meyrin shook her head, clearing her thoughts off the memories. She pressed the 'next' button on her tablet. Then the next video started.

Elaine was explaining to the screen about the current test involving Strike R utilizing a 'Pandora' system, especially in regards to efficiency of the power outputs. That piqued Meyrin's interest as the only information she managed to get through the legal as well not-so-legal channel on Strike R was about the Phase Shift armor and the General Unilateral Neuro-Link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver operating system.

To Meyrin's irritation Elaine didn't describe about the thing was, only that she going through the test in order to determine the efficiency of the simplex configuration. That information didn't reveal anything about what it was, even though the latter commented about whatever the processing output of the simplex would be, the duplex configuration would quintuple it. Sure, Elaine was probably talking about a computer system but as far as Meyrin knew, such system would scale _almost _linearly, meaning a duplex system would double the processing power of a simplex system. Still, having nothing better to do, she continued watching it.

Then the screen suddenly blanked out.

Meyrin grasped the tablet with both hands and brought it closer to her face, wondering what had happened.

The image of Elaine reappeared seconds later. **"Mayday! Mayday! B. Banneker is under attack by unknown forces!" **The alarm was quite visible on the her face even through the helmet's semi translucent face glass. **"Strike R's energy is down to twenty three percent! Request assistance! I repeat, request assistance!" **

Then her image began to become fuzzy and the audio began to crackle into inaudible hiss. Elaine seemed to be talking even though her voice couldn't be heard. The test pilot made movements with her left hand, as if trying to relay something even as the alarm on her expression began to change into one of frustration before finally settling on of uncontrollable anger. Then, her image sharpened and she seemed to scream something.

Meyrin put down the tablet, trying to reconcile with what she saw. The image was clear enough that she could make an easy guess of what Elaine was saying.

"_Damn you."_

The question was, to whom Elaine was talking to?

* * *

Talia hated being left in the dark. After all, her obsession of needing to know all available information in a situation combined with her leading ability were what led to her rather meteoric rise through the rank of ZAFT to lead its flagship. Therefore, she really hated the current situation she was in at the current moment.

No, it wasn't about Elaine Bakhtiar. When she read the report Meyrin had provided, she had found out something that the SCCS operative missed. Elaine Bakhtiar, according to Meyrin's description, was around fifteen to seventeen years of age. If the development of Strike R, the predecessor of the five prototypes started around four years ago, that meant Elaine was involved in the project around eleven or twelve years old. Becoming a test pilot at such a young age and then managing to develop various mobile suit tactics were quite incredible feats, even for a Coordinator.

No, she neither care about that girl's ability nor the fact that ZAFT employed someone that young to become as part of the military; desperation tends to drive everyone to do the extreme. One need only to remember that nary six years ago the first mobile suit for combat use was being conceptualized and at the present time, ZAFT had fielded quite a number of ships carrying mobile suits that are able to protect the interest of PLANTs; six years ago, Coordinators were mostly engineers and technicians, but at that short of time, they had become solders and tacticians.

Now, having the full picture behind the development of the five prototypes, Talia became concerned about the circumstance surrounding their development. She was given a high level access as a member of FAITH yet according to the information that she had seen about the project, Strike R had been destroyed in a testing accident. There was no mention about B. Banneker, which Talia guessed was the prototype's mothership, and no mention about the attack that lead to both Strike R and the ship in the official record. If such information was hidden from someone with a clearance level on par with the ZAFT's high council which presided over matters such as development of GINN as five years ago, there was no telling what other skeletons lurking inside ZAFT's closet.

She hated the feeling of not knowing what happened. And she also hated the fact that she was beginning to become suspicious of ZAFT.

No matter how much she wanted to, the ship and its force were totally outmatched. Talia had no doubt that Elaine could defeat all of them rather easily. As such, she couldn't understand why the elaborate way of forcing the attack force to retreat. Was it because Elaine was still part of ZAFT? If so, then it was possible that she went through all of the trouble just to appease those onboard Archangel while at the same time not having to destroy Minerva and its mobile suit force. If that was the case, then how should _she _react in return? Should she continue to pursue Archangel or should she rein back the pressure? What if Elaine wasn't working with ZAFT anymore and instead betrayed it?

Question would lead to more question; that was why she really hate being in the situation.

* * *

Even before the door opened, Flay somehow knew who it was. "You're annoying, do you know that?" she said, seated inside the cockpit.

"Oh, sorry. I asked Murdoch for permission to have a brief look and didn't expect you to be here."

"Yeah, right. Like he would allow you of all people to come here without any people watching, even if you saved the ship. In fact, he probably allowed you because I'm here which is quite convenient for you since you wanted to see me anyway." Flay pressed a button and the cockpit turned until the other seat faced Lacus. "Well, you block the way out so but at least I don't have to see your face."

"Thank you," Lacus said as she took the seat and then closed the cockpit. She fiddled with control, humming merrily.

"Do you know that I was part of ZAFT as well?" Flay suddenly asked.

The pink princess's hands became stilled and she stopped humming. After a long time, she finally answered. "To be honest, I'm surprised by what you said just now. I have some suspicion about that since you can easily pilot a ZAFT mobile suit, from what I heard from Murdoch, Mir and Tolle. Even if you're part of that so-called secret laboratory team, you wouldn't be allowed to practice on it unless you're the test pilot so the chance of you piloting it to Marshall Island safely is rather small. But I have to admit, with all the 'love' you professed for Coordinators, it is still hard to believe."

Flay sighed. "It looks like I blundered and exposed myself, to you of all people."

"Well, it's not good to hold it inside."

"And since when you became my psychiatrist?"

"Running from the problem isn't the answer."

Flay snorted. "Yeah? What the hell… I might as well humor you. So, what am I supposed to say to you? Maybe I'm not sure what to do since I've been hating something all this time and then one day, poof, I remember the fact I'm part of it at one time, until they decided to erase my mind?

"Maybe the hatred you harbor for Coordinators is because you have been denied being part of it?"

"I think I've been going over this matter with you as well as others. I'm not one."

"Denial is not a river in Egypt."

"Thinking about a Coordinator cracking such a crappy joke makes me really want to step and then grind the ball of my feet on her back."

"Oh, your inner child is being repressed. Are you an 'S' type?" The mirth in Lacus voice was as clear as a cloudless day.

"Now you're just being annoying."

"Hey, Flay…"

"Since when we get that close? Refer me to Miss Allster."

"So, why didn't you tell everyone about your history, Flay?"

"If I still couldn't come to term with the facts, what makes you think everyone else would? It's not like I would be believed if I tell the truth; after all, who would believe that I regained my memory due to this," Flay knocked on the console, "Besides, I have my reputation as a Coordinator hating Blue Cosmos member's reputation to uphold."

"So, you don't really hate Coordinators, do you?"

Flay made some noise but didn't answer, probably remembering their earlier conversation involving a certain brown haired one.

* * *

Despite being inside the deactivated cockpit, their conversation was not in private as what they said was being transmitted to the room of the ship's captain.

"It looks like Red is talking the truth," Mwu said, arms crossed. "She's not a Coordinator."

"Yet, she was with ZAFT."

Mwu shrugged. "Well, we have to find out how that happened, don't we? I have to congratulate you for thinking up such a plan. Who would have thought that she would open up to Clyne?"

"Indeed."

"Is Clyne in the know about this?"

"No," Murrue, who was sitting neat the speaker answered. "She would never agree to this."

After Lacus Clyne was rescued from the attack, Murrue was worried for her safety from Flay Allster seeing that the latter seemed to hate Coordinators with vengeance. To her surprise, the self-confessed Coordinator hater not only interacted with Lacus; they got along rather well. From time to time, Lacus would approach the redhead to talk and the latter would push the former away, but underneath the brusque manner it was done, it was halfhearted. In fact, to Murrue, they were too close to be a mere acquaintance.

Then an idea came to her: use Lacus to gain more information on Flay. The method would have to be through runabout way, since Lacus seemed to be the type that would never betray her friends. Plus, Flay seem to have an uncanny sense to detect her plan if she was to intervene directly as was shown by how the redhead handled the DNA challenge; even discounting that Flay h as a good dose of paranoia. Therefore, the only way was to bug their conversation. Through observation of their behaviors and habits, Murrue predicted correctly where Flay would be that day and that Lacus would be coming to talk to her. Hence, she got Mwu to install the listening device earlier that day before Flay arrive at the hangar to help with the maintenance of Spectrum.

It was a pity that the listening device would have to be removed later in the afternoon after Flay had left. If Spectrum was fully activated and operational, its electronic and sensor suites would have revealed the equipment's radio transmission. Attaching in a more permanent device inside the computer or modifying the software to transmit the cockpit's signal to another source apart from the black box seemed like viable alternatives but with Murdoch not really knowing the innards of Spectrum's OS, the person who would probably know about it is Kira and Flay; getting Kira to cooperate would be impossible and it was a stupid idea to ask Flay to bug herself because that would cause her to be on guard all the time.

It would have been good to know what Flay would be doing whenever she co-pilot the mobile suit.

* * *

"So," Lacus continued, "You have recovered all of your memory,"

Flay examined a tiny piece of equipment held between her thumb and fore finger. She then put it back where she found it: underneath the seat of her chair. "Somewhat."

"Since when?"

"It began when Spectrum's neural interface forcibly activated for the first time in Marshall Island. Since then, bits and bits of info come from time to time. At least they didn't come back immediately or else I would have been left slobbering and drooling."

Lacus giggled, as she seemed to picture it with her mind. "Even so, you would still look beautiful."

"Hush with the attempt to butter me up."

"So, are you really with ZAFT?"

"With ZAFT... I myself wonder about that. What kind of ZAFT would get me to believe that I'm a Blue Cosmos member? Then again, maybe whatever it is, it has connection with both." Flay's eyes drifted in the direction of her seat for the briefest second. "It's rather troublesome to hide the my suspicion that rather the attack on ZAFT base was arranged so that Spectrum can be given to Alliance; Murrue would throw a fit I even suggest that her sugar daddy had been manipulated in such a manner before being killed off."

"Why would someone go through that trouble?"

"You're aware of SEED?"

"I've heard about it. Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor."

Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor or referred to as SEED was a theory about humankind's eventual evolution into a new species. It was proposed that the carrier of the genetic factor would be able to enter a state of heightened cognitive awareness and peak physical ability. However, such theory had yet gain widespread acceptance throughout the scientific community and its proponents had been derided as drug junkies due to the fact that the state described them seemed somewhat similar to the state induced through drugs.

"But do they exist?" Lacus asked. "After all, aren't they just myths?"

"I'm talking to a two-legged version of unicorn right now,"

"That's rather mean of you."

"Don't expect me to grovel in apology to you."

"But what that has to do with Spectrum?"

"Who has the highest pool of people highly trained and skilled people, people who most likely to be SEED carriers?"

"The military."

"Correct. And while we're at it, why limit it to only one side? One had landed in Africa, an area ZAFT mostly controlled and the other one in South America, one that represents nations that are neutral to Alliance and ZAFT."

Lacus really didn't like what Flay said. If that was the case, then the real reason behind everything, the attack on Carpenteria base and whatever happened between that period of time and the time they picked her up, was in order to locate probable SEED carriers which meant.

Perhaps, she shuddered to think, the war broke out in order to search for SEED carriers.

Being a politician and having study economics on the side, Lacus had reluctantly accepted was as one of valid, albeit ethically and morally wrong, economic tool. Even from the earlier history of mankind, war had been waged not really because of hate and prejudice but because of economic reasons: to gain resource, to reduce competition for the resource usage or even to move the economy when it stagnated. If she was to look the current conflict from the view of an emotionally-detached economist, she would come to the conclusion that it broke out because Alliance wanted to maintain control PLANT's economic resources while ZAFT was fighting to prevent that from happening.

The possibility that the war was orchestrated in order to gather people with a probably non-existent genetic factor, was totally unbelievable and wrong to an unbelievable level.

"Good thing Murrue's sugar daddy screwed back those that used him by keeping Spectrum out of Alliance's hand and instead in Orb's." Flay remarked. "Attha certainly understands its danger in escalating the war even further."

"All of that trouble just to locate someone who may not even exist?"

"Like I said just now, I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

"I still don't get what you're saying, and you're still being mean."

Flay let out a very long breath once more. "Look, Glenn in that speech of his, had said that Coordinators' purpose is to coordinate the next step of humanity's evolution before he went off and gloat that he was a regulator… a coordinator. If we really examine his speech in literal sense, achieving 'Coordinator'hood is not the real target."

"And you're probably a Coordinator because what you're doing may inadvertently help to bring it the humanity's evolution?"

"If I really want to go with the flow, I have to say I'm more of a vampire, you know, preying on other people, sucking their bloods dry and stuff. Even have the hair to go with the theme." She remained silent for a while. "Hey, Lacus."

"Yeah?"

"Let's say you're a cow…"

"I thought I'm a unicorn?"

"Okay, a unicow, then. A thinking one at that, with consciousness and conscience. You know that you're being reared for to provide milk and meat to people. You're there to serve their needs, their wants. Would you feel satisfied with that kind of life?"

"I'm not sure, since I'm not one. But some people say that to fulfill your destiny and existence is the key to happiness."

"I see," Flay said solemnly. "I guess you're right. Maybe it's not meant to be…"

* * *

Talia had been pouring over the information that Meyrin was streaming into her personal computer, searching for any strand of clue that would tell her what was going on to the extent of leaving Arthur in charge for a significant period of time. Already, rumors were flying that she was brooding over her failures and she had picked Meyrin as a convenient scapegoat in order to preserve her FAITH rank. She didn't do anything about the rumors as it would be better for others to believe them. As for her rank, she didn't really care for it because the rank itself carry tremendous responsibilities instead being just a privilege. It was similar to being a Coordinator...

Her eyes widened. Coordinator?

She quickly tapped some commands on her computer to establish a secure and private line to the one she had put under arrest.

"Captain?" Meyrin questioned, puzzled by her action. "Isn't it dangerous for you to be contacting me even through the secure line?"

"Just answer me one thing. Elaine admitted that she is not a Coordinator, isn't she?"

"Yes... but..."

"Get me all of her data, anything, as long as its regarding her. If she picks her nose, I want to know when and where. Also I want you to conduct a search on her current name... 'Flay' or 'Fllay'. Limit your search on those being born in North Atlantic, to a prominent person or being an orphan."

"Yes, ma'am," Meyrin said as she signed off.

The information she requested only came in a few hours later, after she returned from her station. It seemed that the rest of the bridge protested her treatment of Meyrin by being quiet and direct to the point, unlike being their usual self. However, it was also within her calculation. Talia opened the files, starting with Elaine Bakhtiar. She noted that in the personnel file, the redhead test pilot was listed as a Coordinator which was as she expected. Talia then opened the files pertaining to 'Flay' or 'Fllay', skimming through them until she came to the family name 'Allster'. She opened the file and was greeted with the image of Elaine, in a civilian dress. She then quickly searched for a thesis written by a thesis written by a geneticist by the name of Albert Randall almost a century before. A prominent and well-respected scientist before his thesis caused him to be debunked and ridiculed by the scientific community, it had been proposed that he was behind the Coordinator project that gave birth to the first Coordinator, George Glenn. She read through it until her eyes stopped at an important point in the text.

Talia slammed her fist on the table, cursing. It was as she had feared; the whole puzzle had began to unravel and Minerva was caught up in the middle of it. She sat down and took a deep breath, thinking about what to do next. Unconsciously, she bit her finger nail, an unsightly habit she stopped doing, or at least thought so.

She recalled Sherlock Holmes saying that when all which was impossible have been eliminated, then whatever remains, despite being probable must be the truth.

However, what should she do with the truth?

* * *

It was interesting how his plan had deviated so much that Gilbert simply doesn't know how it would turn out. If he had to admit to himself, its progress was rather deplorable being that it wasn't supposed to be that way. He swirled the champagne glass he was holding, staring at the bubbly liquid inside it. One interesting fact about vintage wines, they were made from the same harvest and then processed at the same time being bottled, tiny variance and imperfections led to a difference of taste in each bottle.

Similarly, it seemed that a tiny imperfection in his plan had caused it to change so much.

When he arranged for the 'key' to steal Prometheus away from its laboratory, he had been expecting it to end up in Alliance's hand. Instead, through his sources, he indeed found out that Halberton had another plan thought out, one that would cause the mobile suit to end up in Orb. Despite the setback in the plan, Gilbert felt that it could be continued because PANDORA system had activated, meaning whoever the person piloting it a likely candidate of being a SEED carrier.

However, he began to notice that even though the PANDORA system was activated, the system's progress to unlock the pilot's potential was slow, too slow in fact.

He began to 'guide' the mobile suit and its mothership through trials and tests, so that the mobile suit's pilot would grow in strength more and more. When he baited one of ZAFT's submarines to attack the daughter of Clyne's shuttle, it went successfully with the whole force being wiped out. Because of that, he deemed that the pilot was ready to destroy Minerva and its complement of mobile suits.

Minerva and its mobile suits remained undestroyed.

He wondered what went wrong.

The key had been carefully selected by the computer from a vast database of talented individuals, one that includes even children of the current council members. One in particular, Athrun, the scion of Zala had even shown the possibility of being a SEED carrier, the possible bearer of humanity's destiny. It was also the main reason why it was arranged for his transfer to Minerva in the hope that should he possessed the gene, he would awaken in through the fight with Spectrum's pilot.

Still, computer decided that the present key was superior than any of them because one trait: immensely powerful feeling of hatred for Coordinators. As a Coordinator himself, Gilbert didn't like putting the success of his plan in the hand of his possible destroyer but he could see the reason why the choice was made. PANDORA system's efficiency would very much depend on the emotional state of its human 'processors' and if having 'her' ensures the Destiny plan succeeds at the cost of few hundreds or even few thousands Coordinator's life, it would be more than worth it.

At that time, though, it seemed that something had happened to the key. Was the key destroyed? It would be a pity if that happened because it wasn't easy to secure such a sample; another reason why he had be hesitant to use it.

No matter, the seeds of future conflict had been sown. Alliance had gotten their own prototypes ready to escalate the war to a new level having procured the necessary technologies from benevolent 'sources' while ZAFT was surely ready to respond in kind. And right in the middle of it is Prometheus and its ship.

Now, how would the Prometheus pilot react?

Gilbert took a sip of the alcoholic drink he was holding, fully savoring the fruity note it imparted. While some may not like it, he preferred the _Brut Natural_ level of sweetness.

He looked at the large screen showing a mobile suit silhouette. Humankind was a very strange creatures. Even though they could think independently, they would always be influenced by impressions made on them when they were small. For example, the mobile suit that he was looking at was designed in an image that would elicit trust from all people; the intended savior. To be honest, he wasn't sure how it would end up being used; it would be used anyway.

What really mattered was that it would further his own plan.

"If you're in my place, Glenn, what would you do?"

* * *

"Come on, you're just being cowardly. Just decide already." Shinn prodded.

"It's not that easy." Kira insisted.

"What do you mean it's not easy? Just follow your heart and make your choice. Would you like to be with a childhood friend with whom you have lost contact with only to meet her recently? Or will you try to reach out for the mysterious one who seemed to harbor hatred for humanity, hoping that you would be able to heal her heart? The choices are already there laid out for you, clear as a day."

"What if I choose wrongly? What should I do? What if I hurt the other one?"

Shinn put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Look, when you make your choice, whoever you don't choose will be hurt; that's something you cannot escape from. However, if you don't make your choice, everyone will end up getting hurt."

"But... "

"Just make your choice, damnit!"

"But..."

"Look!" Shinn said as he wrestled the tablet from Kira's hand. "Why must you make easy things difficult? You saved the progress already! Just choose one and finish the story line. If you feel bad, then you can finish the other story later!" He pressed on a portrait of a girl on the tablet. "Here, the God of Dating Sim, G-O-D-S, Shinn Asuka has decreed that you select this story path," he said as he handed the tablet back.

Kira took the tablet and looked at the choice and then back at Shinn. "But I thought that you're the Invincible Marksman of First Person Shooter!"

Shinn laughed. "That too."

Kira still didn't understand how playing the game would help him in his dilemma. He had been feeling some attraction to both Flay and Lacus but didn't know what he should do next. Shinn Asuka happened to pass by at that time and caught a little bit of their conversation and offered to help. Thinking that Shinn would guide him on how to deal with his feeling, Kira accepted. But in the end, what Shinn did was to ask him to play a Dating Sim game where the protagonist's main objective is to choose among several characters and then try to develop a romantic relationship with that chosen character.

He looked at the character on the tablet once more. If only the real world permits replaying or reloading if ones screwed up.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (1 April 2011)**

1. To the nation of Japan, my heart goes out to you and I pray for everyone's safety and good health.

2. Although short, this chapter is a critical junction part of the story. It also provides the explanation on many (not all) of Flay's actions in the previous chapters.

3. Actually, if I'm to split the story, it would begin at next chapter. However, I received a good number feedbacks that are partial to KxF pairing or KxF&KxL. If that trend maintain, perhaps, it would be best for me to simply concentrate on just one story branch. I will try to split the story into two branch, MSGS Spectrum Dawn for KxL and MSGS Spectrum Twilight for KxF to see how it goes first. I will update both almost simultaneously.

4. I tried to update this story almost two weeks ago but was unable to do so; something to do with error no 2. But in a way, there's a silver lining since I changed around 10 percent of the whole chapter.


	15. Fake

Talia looked at the report in her hand for the final time before putting on the table. She then shifted her attention toward Meyrin who was standing in front of her. "You have been cleared of all suspicion," the Minerva captain while gesturing for the cuff on the SCCS operator to be removed. "You will be given a day off before you're to report to your normal duty."

"Thank you," Meyrin said before saluting and left the room.

Lunamaria and Athrun were waiting for her outside the room.

"So, how is it?" Lunamaria asked while eyeing her sister's unbound hands. "You're proven innocent, right?" she asked as the three of them walked along the corridor.

"Yes, and I'm given a day off."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Lunamaria snorted derisively. "As suspected from her, the unfeeling bitch."

"She's just doing her job," Athrun said in a placating manner.

"Yeah, right. She didn't know her people that much that just a tiny little thing and it's off to the brigs you go."

"She just had me confined me to a room," Meyrin reasoned.

"That's still imprisonment in my book." The elder sibling said. "Look, we've been having this conversation again and again. You have to stand up for yourself or else other people would take advantage of your kindness."

Meyrin chucked nervously. She knew that it was not easy for Captain Talia to decide to 'frame' her and she could understand why the reasoning behind that decision. Even though Elaine was her friend, the former's involvement in the current conflict had disturbed her; how could someone involved with ZAFT's top secret project ended up working against it?

Yet, after all her snooping around, she was nowhere to unraveling the twisted maze of secrecy. However, she did manage to find out that Rey's real mission apart from subduing Prometheus was to retrieve the other two mobile suits, Epimetheus and Menoetius.

Even though Captain Talia didn't say anything upon finding out about it, Meyrin guessed that a plan had been made to deal with him when the situation arrived.

Sometimes, Meyrin was envious of her sister whose perception of the current war was rather simple: Alliance is the enemy, shoot the enemy, the enemy cries, the enemy waves the white flag and everyone lives happily ever after. Okay, perhaps she was being sarcastic in that regard but sometimes hearing her sister's idealistic viewpoints made Meyrin felt that that the only path to happiness is paved with ignorance.

Well, it's a good thing Lunamaria didn't know that Meyrin had a jaded and cynical side to her or else the elder sister would be very disappointed by the failure to maintain her 'innocence' and 'childlike' quality.

Still, Meyrin couldn't help but feel happy at her sister's attention on her even though it could be exasperating and stuffy at times.

"I did contact her," Athrun said, "But it seemed that she's changed somewhat,"

Meyrin quickly turned her attention towards the conversation between Athrun and her sister. It wouldn't do for her sister to notice her being in deep thought; Lunamaria would probably misinterpret her expression signifying that she has a big problem, and hence hound her for an explanation.

"What do you mean changed?" Lunamaria asked.

"Well, I think her dressing has changed a bit; she looked sexier and more daring in her getup, though I'm not really sure. Despite being my fiancée, I don't really know her that well. We rarely met in person despite maintaining constant communication via video call" He stroke his chin. "Hm… Now that I think of it, Kira and I may have met her when we're small. There were four of us playing in the park at that time…Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Meyrin asked, eager to show that she was paying attention to the conversation.

"Nothing, just that I only remember Kira and that girl but somehow I can't recall…"

Before he could finish, he was shoved to the wall to his left from someone behind him. Lunamaria got the same treatment and was about to yell indignantly when she saw the culprit.

Talia passed by hurriedly, not even apologizing as she did so. "Meyrin, your leave is cancelled. You're to report to the bridge in an hour."

"What the hell with her?" Lunamaria asked while rubbing her shoulder that hit the wall.

"She's really pissed, that's for sure," Dearka's voice came from behind the three of them.

Athrun turned around to see the man was accompanied by Nicol. "Do you know the cause?"

Nicol shared a confused look with Dearka. "Haven't you heard the latest news? Archangel had disappeared from our long range sensors."

* * *

Neumann considered that he's quite a good pilot, even secretly believing that he was better than most of ZAFT's ship pilots. So, he had no problem piloting Archangel through space junk fields or even asteroid belts. But what he was doing at that time was something bordering crazy that it challenged all of his piloting skill as well as his sanity.

When Murrue mentioned about his current task which was to fly into Sahara through Indian Ocean and Red Sea, it seemed simple enough, albeit a bit taxing. Doing it in a middle of a raging sand storm? If he was to borrow a gaming term from Asuka, performing the feat would be labeled as 'insanely difficult level'.

Neumann pulled the flight control toward him with a little too much force, even though the control was fully fly-by-wire, and the ship ascended for a moment before a gust of wind pushed it downward. For countless time already, he managed to prevent the ship from crashing into the ground. "Captain, I've been wondering… Did Mwu come up with this?"

"Wow," Mwu uttered. "How do you know about that?"

"Other people suggest tactics that are borderline zany but not you. You don't have to do it at the border since you already the country's ruler and the capital is named after you."

The blonde ace chuckled. "Thank you. I have to say the coup was bloodless, the first in the Zanyland."

"I guessed as much" Neumann remarked before chuckling as well.

"I don't get the joke," Romario complained at the rather strange behavior being displayed by the two.

Murrue glanced toward Abby only to see that the CIC operator was shaking her head. "You're not alone," she said. "Whatever they're talking about, it's beyond other people's comprehension. But for the record, I wouldn't simply agree with the tactic if it's not beneficial for us."

While getting Archangel to fly through night during sand storm was suicidal at best and plain stupid at worst, doing so would allow the ship to fly through vast stretches of land without being picked up easily by both Alliance and ZAFT's radar stations in the region as well as reducing the chance of being sighted visually. Also, the other reason for the movement was to put the distance between the ship and its pursuer. From what short time she has spent communicating with the captain of Minerva, the captain seemed to be a rational and calculated person. Thus, such an unorthodox move wouldn't be expected and would allow Archangel to escape.

Even when the ZAFT captain finally realize her strategy, by then it would already be too late. Once the sandstorm abated, it would be unthinkable for Minerva to give chase as doing so would require it to be airborne and once that happened, Alliance would scramble all of their aircrafts in the sector and fire all available long range interceptor missiles at the ship.

In a single risky move, multiple objectives could be achieved rather easily.

"Hey, aren't we're heading towards that ZAFT's commander's sector? You know, the famous Andrew Bartfeld?" Neumann suddenly asked.

"Come to think of it…" Mwu trailed.

"Let me guess, this tactic is also intended for us to walk into the lion's den?"

"Fly, not walk. Talking about that…." The blonde stood up and made an exaggerated bowing movement. "Well come to the den of 'Desert Tiger'.

"Tiger?" Neumann said incredulously.

* * *

Andrew Bartfeld looked at the wet brownish stain on his uniform. "Damn! That's a waste of Tarrazu," he said regretfully. The coffee grown in Tarrazu region of what used to be Costa Rica in United States of Southern America was quite difficult to get owing the instability in the region, so much so that when its price peaked, its price was almost as expensive as gold.

"In some cultures, coughing while eating or drinking means that someone is talking about you. In other cultures, you will sneeze instead," Da Costa remarked.

"And you both sneezed and coughed," Aisha observed mirthfully. "So someone must be talking about you."

Andrew set his cup on the table, not wanting to risk spilling it in case he sneezed or cough again. "Good thing, I hope."

"Maybe Lady Lacus?" Da Costa said while handing him a box of tissue. "You should get it clean soon or else it would be difficult to get the stain off."

"Like I can simply wash it off, with water supply being rationed as it is." Andrew took the tissue and was about to wipe the stain but decided not to, remembering that he could be pushing the stain into the fabric. "No news about her so far?"

Aisha shook her head.

Andrew let out a frustrated breath. He was supposed to accompany Lacus on her trip but was unable to do so due to being called to Africa. It seemed that Lacus had predicted almost correctly that one of those fake asteroids would land in the region. However, rather than crash into somewhere and then crater everything around it, the asteroid 'disappeared'. What boggled the mind was that no one really saw it. Of course, its landing happened during a sand storm but surely a 'shooting star' would have been seen.

And presently, she had gone missing, and Andrew was yet to inform Siegel about what happened, not knowing what to say to her father whom had entrusted her life to him.

* * *

When the doctor exited the sick bay, Murrue was already waiting for him. "So, what wrong with the patient?"

After crossing through the sand storm, Archangel had landed at a sand dunce and once the sand storm had abated, the crew quickly got to work to cover the ship to prevent it from being detected while it went about its mission of finding the second prototype. With the climate harsher than the one they're used to, Murrue had guessed that few of the ship's crew would be affected. To her surprise, only one was affected, and considering that one person had been a pest to her, Murrue had pegged the person would be quite resilient.

"She's suffering from Hyperpyrexia, though the cause is unknown."

"Hyperpyrexia?"

"Her temperature is around 42.1 degrees Centigrade. Rather high and I would have called for a medical emergency but her condition seemed to stabilize. I hooked her up to the diagnostic machine so if there's any change we should know." The doctor turned toward the door. "Also, I've lowered the room temperature significantly so her body heat can be dissipated easier; I think her friends have to get warm clothes at some point of time to prevent themselves from freezing."

"I think they can take it."

The doctor gave her a long look before continuing. "Have you heard about the ZAFT pilot who survived reentry with only his mobile suit without the use of the reentry capsule?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes, amazing isn't it? Perhaps that's the potential of a Coordinator."

The doctor sighed. "The truth is the pilot died."

"But…"

"A Coordinator's body is tougher than a Natural, but not that much. The difference is around one degree Centigrade or two, not enough to survive the heat that is hot enough to burn damage proteins that make up our body. I'm a doctor and maybe I have yet to treat thousands of Coordinators but I'm very sure that they're just similar to Naturals. Sure, the morphology is changed through genetic manipulation, but from how they looks like, it's very much obvious that the changes aren't that great; even dogs displays greater differences in regards to appearance and physical built. So unless they start to develop carapace or a pair of gills or start sprouting two or more heads, at most, Coordinators can only be considered as humans who had the best features and abilities in their genetic blueprint. Also, I'm not a member of Blue Cosmos but I'm really irked by this all these discussion about Coordinators being truly superior. They already have much on their plates dealing with their own problems."

"Problems?"

"Problem. A very big fundamental problem." The doctor then proceeded to explain. When the first Coordinator revealed the secret of his birth to the world, he also identified the blueprint on how to create one, including the genes that contributed to expanded abilities such as high intelligence and naturally athletic body. The secret, however, didn't reveal one glaring flaw. If all Coordinators are created using those genes, in the end, they would share a lot of similar genetic materials that most of them could be considered related.

"Are you saying that it's like incest?" Murrue said.

"Yes. Something like that. It's like you sleeping with you twice removed uncle or something."

"You're kidding me."

"I don't kid with something like this. I heard that they have fertility problem there in PLANTs. I postulate that it's due to the lack of genetic input."

"Then they should encourage more Natural immigrants."

"If only it's that simple. Having genetic input from Naturals solve that problem but cause another one: the succeeding generation will be less 'Coordinator' than the preceding one."

While it would help with the fertility problem, having a mix of Coordinator and Natural parentage wouldn't guarantee the child becoming a full Coordinator because the desirable genes from the Coordinator parent may be suppressed by the less desirable but more dominant traits from the Natural parent. The only way to ensure that the child would be a Coordinator is by manipulating their genes so that they become first generation Coordinator. However, that approach wouldn't solve the problem, merely postponing the inevitable.

"And despite what other people says, I personally think being a 'super human' is just a matter of being one of very few among the many. If the situation is reversed, Naturals will be considered as Coordinators due to the 'superior' genes that would allow their offspring to be fertile."

Murrue thought about the statement. "Now you mention about it, it makes sense in a way." She was about to make another remark when something clicked in her mind as she recalled the conversation between Flay and Lacus regarding the probable cause for the war. She recalled about the so-called SEED holders being the next step in the evolution of humankind. So it wouldn't be a long stretch if that the holders would be the answer to the problem faced by Coordinators.

If that was the case, then she could understand why Flay hinted that the war was caused by Coordinator. It would be quite an easy conclusion to arrive to, especially since Siegel Clyne, the PLANT representative that was supposed to negotiate with the United Nation's representatives survived the terrorist attack that killed them. Even though he survived due to the malfunctioning of his shuttle, a simple reason, it really didn't hold up. No dignitaries would ever be late for an important summit like that and hence would arrive earlier than the scheduled time; probably a day or even earlier.

While it was possible that it was a plan to frame ZAFT by Alliance, it would be quite difficult to pull it off since they would have to have access to Siegel's shuttle. Even if they manage to damage the shuttle, it would be a simple matter to simply replace the shuttle with a reserve one. Besides, even if after efforts made and Siegel couldn't make it, the summit would be postponed; Siegel was representing ZAFT and without him, the summit would have been pointless.

So, at the very least, ZAFT or perhaps someone with the access to ZAFT was involved.

The war started because there was need to find SEED holders to solve the genetic input of Coordinators but at the same time ensuring that the wanted traits that make them Coordinators were preserved in their offspring; such a reason was so ridiculous that it wasn't funny.

Murrue snapped her attention toward the doctor. "I forgot to ask but what is the NCDNA-Heterochromatin marker test result on Lacus Clyne?"

"She is a second generation Coordinator, though I noticed that her genetic makeup is significantly different from her parents."

"How do you get their genetic pattern maps?"

"Since her parents are first generation Coordinators created by blueprints left by Glenn, their patterns are available on the info-net."

"Wait… you're saying that her genetic makeup is different from her parents, what do you mean?"

"It's rather a hypothesis, but I think that she is one of the few that could marry other Coordinator and have normal children."

"I see. That's why the unicorn comment," Murrue mused, remembering Flay referring to Lacus as a unicorn. Lacus had mentioned that SEED didn't exist and Flay then referred to her as a unicorn, a magical and mystical creature. At first Murrue thought that it was a simple insult but thinking back, it could mean that Lacus was one of the SEED holders.

"What do you mean by that 'unicorn' comment?" the man asked.

"Nothing that you should know of." Murrue said as she left.

The doctor watched her leave with a bit of irritation. She knew that he had a very curious nature but she still make that comment. Thanks to that he would probably having a rather sleepless night trying to find out about what the comment all about. But in the end, he would have his pyrrhic victory: she wouldn't find out about the information he had about the recuperating patient inside the sick bay until much much later and he would be there to annoy her back.

* * *

Seated next to the bed, Kira peeled away the blue gel patch on the slightly delirious redhead girl's forehead and placed a new one; the new gel would dissipate body heat for at least eight hours before needing replacement. Throwing the used on into the nearby dustbin, he wondered what happened to the redhead on the bed. It was strange, he thought. Even though not to the extent of Coordinators, a large number of Naturals had their genetics modified to boost their immune system. Because of that, what used to be common diseases such as common cold had largely disappeared and can only be found in historical texts and encyclopedias apart from research laboratories.

He turned back to see Flay struggling to open her eyes. "Kira?" she managed to croak out weakly.

"Yes, it's me," he said as he gently pushed the bangs of her hair away from her face, mentally wincing at her high fever as it merely increased his already high concern about her wellbeing.

"You shouldn't be here," she whispered.

"And you should rest," he said as he pulled up her blanket.

Despite her condition, she shifted her body to a sitting position. "You should leave now."

His eyes crinkled. "Oh, you want to rest. Well, then, if that's the case then I will take my leave. I'll visit you…"

"I SAID YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"

"Flay," Kira said as he approached the bed but she raised her hand to stop him while looking downward.

"Why can't you get the message? You're a Coordinator, my enemy!"

"Flay…" He wanted to approach her but wasn't sure.

She hung her head and began to grip the bed sheet as it began to become wet from silent tears. "Living lives of lies after lies alone, day after day, all for the sake of others."

Although Flay forbade him from coming nearer and he didn't know what she was talking about, one thing that he was sure: she was suffering in her condition. He closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped his arms around her lithe body. He wasn't sure whether his action was effective of not but it was the only thing he knew how.

Kira lost track of time of how long he held Flay, but he kept holding her until he was sure that she had fallen asleep; even then he kept holding her. During the time, he kept thinking about her earlier words. Whatever past background she had, it was surely a terrible one.

"But you don't have to be alone," Kira whispered while smiling at the sleeping woman in his arm. "I like you and hope that you would allow me to be there for you"

"You say that without knowing me," Flay replied back, also in a whisper.

Even though her reply had caught him by surprise since she was supposed to be sleeping, he quickly composed himself. "You don't know me as well."

"I know you… more than you think… at the very least I know you more than you know me."

Kira pushed her slightly to have a look at her face, being careful not to push her too far away and caused her to interpret the action negatively. He noted that her eyes were closed despite her being awake. "Then tell me; let me know more about you."

She lowered her head and let it rest on his chest. "Kira,"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about myself."

He rocked her body gently. "Why? Don't you trust me?"

She shook her head. "It's not that I don't trust you but rather I can't because there's nothing that I can tell you. Despite the bravado and pretense all this while, the truth is that the person that you know as Flay Allster doesn't exist."

"Wha…"

"The identity is just as a cover as well as one of the methods to control my actions."

What he heard was so convoluted that no good reply came to mind. Thinking about it, he noticed that she had changed from the first time when they had met but had attributed to her meeting other people. Learning that there was another reason was shocking to say the very least. "You're… kidding about this, right?"

"Ask Lacus and she will confirm that. She will tell you that George Allster never had any child."

"Oh…"

A few more moments passed in silence.

"Um…" Flay said with a strangely timid voice, "Aren't you supposed to push me away?"

"Hm? What for?"

"Um… you know, you're supposed to… um… go to Lacus to check about it or something."

"Why?"

"To check… that whether I'm telling the truth or not."

"But you're already telling the truth so why should I ask her?" he answered confusedly.

Even though he couldn't see her face as it was still downward, Kira could feel that her eyes widened. Then a stray thought crossed his mind about his answer not being a normal answer. Then another one came, berating him for being an idiot and not responding appropriately to the situation. Realizing his blunder, Kira felt compelled to explain what he did. "Since I believe your story," he scratched the side of his head in an embarrassed manner, "and I want to be here with you."

"I see…" the redhead mumbled.

"Plus, I don't know about your identity and so-called manufactured memory but I do know that you're here, right now as Flay that stole Spectrum and then ended up at Marshall Island, the Flay that always like to rile Captain Murrue but also have that cute side to her... I don't think that's manufactured, unless of course all of this is just a dream and I'm a figment of your imagination or the other way around but…"

Kira stopped in his rant at the sound of Flay's laughter. The laughter seemed genuine and heartfelt so he smiled, relieved that he was successful in bringing the girl out of her depressed state.

"For a Coordinator, you're definitely foolish, do you know that?" Flay said teasingly.

"My sister proclaimed my middle name as 'Anideut', as in Kira Anideut Yamato," he confessed.

"I was just pulling your leg. Besides, an idiot? Well, that's taking it too far. You're just naïve and kind hearted, but then again, that your best points."

"Thanks, I think."

"But Kira, if you're with me, you'll put your life at risk and you don't even know what you're getting into."

"Well, as long you'll tell me about it then it will be okay."

She smiled. "That's another foolish answer, but I like it. Perhaps you're really the one…" she then threw herself at him.

He neither registered the fact the two of them ended up in a passionate kissing nor how they got to that stage; all he knew that whatever he was feeling at that time was blowing his mind away.

* * *

"Ready for our foraging trip?" Mwu asked Kira.

"Sure," came the answer as Kira put on a beige poncho.

The blonde ace smiled. One of the good things regarding Kira he liked was the fact that the young man was always ready to lend a hand whenever needed. So, when he asked the young man to join him to go and search for supply. While there was enough food onboard to last them for at least two or three months and the atmospheric water generator was functioning perfectly, it wouldn't hurt to err on the cautious side.

Besides, they might be lucky if they could locate smugglers interested in foisting their wares. While batteries powering beam weapons could be charged through the ship's onboard nuclear fission plant, missiles and bullets were not and had to be replenished somehow. Unlike Minerva that could asked for a resupply via ZAFT's submarine fleet or if needed through risker but faster orbital drop, Archangel was on its own.

"Come," he continued he thumbed at the transport that will bring them to the nearest city. "Our transport awaits."

Kira starred at the broke down vehicle. "Not to question you," he began as he pointed toward a totally new vehicle next to it, "But couldn't we use that instead?"

"Nope, since that new car will glare everyone with its paintjob and we will stand out, not to mention the fact that everyone can recognize Orb's design from a mile away. Plus, we already paid a bundle for the beat-up old heap so we might as well get our money's worth," Mwu replied as he handed the young man a gun. At the latter's reluctance, he shoved it insistently. "I'm not telling you go into the town and start shooting at the people. My duty is to keep you safe but in case I couldn't, this will at least give me the peace of my mind that I've given you a tool to protect yourself. Take it."

Kira took the gun slowly.

"Let's go," the older man quipped as the two of them got into the car.

Truth be told, Mwu wasn't very eager to bring Kira, a civilian, who already had a number of military operations under his belt, to the town but he had to since there's a remote chance he would require the young man's ability as a Coordinator. Of course, there was Lacus, but she was out of question since she was well known and added to that was Murrue wanting to preserve the young woman's 'neutrality' as best as she could.

As the jeep exited Archangel in the general direction of their destination, Mwu stroke out a conversation with his passenger. There was another reason why he was to bring Kira along, which was to try to get some information regarding Allster. From their conversation, he learnt that the girl had recovered from her fever, to Kira's relief. It wasn't much, but Mwu didn't really hope that something big would come out of their talk in the first place. Besides, it wasn't that he hoped that Kira would know something that Murrue and he hadn't found out yet.

* * *

In Kira's opinion, the small town was rather lively despite being at the fringe of the conflict between ZAFT and rag tag guerilla group by the name of Desert Dawn. Despite that, there was an indescribable tension in the air as everyone seemed to be trigger happy, waiting someone else to sneeze as a signal to bring out their own weapon and start blasting away.

They had earlier met someone who looked and acted like what the locals referred to as a 'merchant'. They also referred to the person as a 'snake', 'backstabber', 'future hell resident' and all other nasty names. When Kira asked Mwu why the man got such unsavory name, he got the answer that the person was a smuggler. Being a smuggler wasn't the reason for the name as there were trustworthy smugglers and there were smugglers. Logically, it was risky dealing with such people but normally such people would have access to certain items, such as ballistic missiles or two as well as the ammunition for CIWS rather than normal cache of handheld firearms.

The transaction went through smoothly, at least according to Mwu. Kira wasn't sure about whether everyone pointing semi-automatic rifle at the two of them while shouting in unknown language could be considered as smooth but at least the two of them got out of it just fine probably; he chalked it up to Mwu's negotiation and sweet talking skills. In the end, Mwu and the smuggler agreed on a transaction. With that out of the way, they two of them headed to the town for something that Mwu said that he needed to find.

"Let's grab a bite," the man said while gesturing toward a café.

Kira wasn't sure why the man would want to waste his time but he readily complied.

After their order was taken by a modestly clad proprietress, Mwu turned his attention toward him. "One thing that you need to know that in real world negotiation, just like in a battle, you must be calm at all time. There's another task we have to carry out but even if we're done here, it wouldn't do to just return to the ship. We may never know someone is following us or there's going to be a trap set up. By showing that we're willing to slow down and not play their game, they will know that we'll not to be trifled with."

"Wait a minute, is that how you've been fighting all this time?"

"Of course, take the ZAFT's strike force that we've been fighting, both of us were fighting against all this time. They're no doubt skilled, probably more than me, befitting their status to be given those prototypes but I noticed that some of them can be easily goaded into attacking prematurely and thus wasting their energy. And being patient isn't something you could achieve just like that. Rather than knowing to fire, you have to know when to retreat even though the enemy is just a second away from the trigger."

"But I don't," Kira stopped as the proprietress returned with their order only to continue after she was gone, "I don't really want to learn how to kill effectively,"

"Like I told you just now, giving a gun to you doesn't mean you will use it indiscriminately. It's more of a survival. For example," Mwu suddenly pushed him off the seat onto the ground and then tilt the table away from the two of them."

"Wha?" Kira uttered before gun shouts echoed in the air.

"Down! In prone!" Mwu ordered. "The table is so that they will not know where we are, not protect us." As if to prove him right, stray bullet pierced through the table.

"The smuggler?" Kira asked.

"FOR THE PURE AND BLUE WORLD!" someone shouted in the midst of the hail of bullets.

"Probably not?" the man next to him said as he brought out his gun and gestured toward another table where another man was exchanging fire with his opponents. "It's probably best we stick out of this."

"AND COLONEL RAMIUS SEND HER REGARDS TO YOU AND ASKED US TO TELL YOU TO GO TO HELL!" another attacker shouted at the besieged man.

Mwu shot the attacker who shouted the words.

"Mwu! You said that you wanted us not get involved!"

"Not my fault those bastards wanted what's coming to them so much." Mwu said as he traded fire with another man.

Then just like their sudden and unexpected appearance, the attackers retreated. The reason for their retreat came a few moments later as a squad of ZAFT soldiers rushed into the area.

"Crud," Mwu said as he noticed a rifle aimed at him from his blind spot. Lowering down his pistol slowly, he then put his hands on his head. "Put your hands on your head," he told Kira.

The two of them remained in the position for what seemed to be an eternity until Kira heard heavy footsteps moved toward the two of them.

"Well, sorry for the treatment you got from my men. Some of them are quit green and a bit on the jittery side." A new voice called out before a hand appeared in front of Kira's face, inviting him to stand up. "By the way," the man said as he pulled Kira to his feet, "The name's Andy."

* * *

Mwu smiled at the raven haired woman who set the steaming cup of coffee in front of him. "You must be Jane," he said with an award winning smile.

The woman gave him an amused look. "The name's Aisha, hot boy and before you think about it, I'm taken," she said while signaling with her eyes at Andrew Bartfeldt before exiting the room.

"Have a drink," Andrew invited. "This is a full Arabica blend, and when enjoyed without milk or sugar, you'll notice that there's a note of chocolate in it."

Kira took a sip and raised his eyebrows. "You're right. It is delicious!"

"What did I tell you?" Andrew said while grinning.

The three of them engaged in small talk until Andrew changed the topic. "So, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Kira asked. "We told you just now that we're tourists," he turned toward Mwu, "Right?"

The said blonde man didn't say anything and instead was sipping his coffee leisurely.

There was a clicking sound coming from Andrew's direction and Kira turned toward the man only to see that the man was pointing a gun toward him and then at Mwu. "You think someone as legendary as Mwu La Fllaga will not stand out even though he wears a tunic?"

Kira didn't know what possessed him to whip his gun and then aimed at Andrew. "Drop that gun."

"Or what?" Andrew asked. "You're going to kill me? I kill Fllaga, you kill me, and then it will be you who will die. Even if you're a Coordinator," He observed Kira's reaction, "which I think you are, you wouldn't survive even getting out of the door."

Mwu set down his cup on the table and then turned toward Kira. "Calm down, kid. Just put away the gun before you hurt someone."

"But Mwu…"

"If you want really want to threaten our host then at least adjust the safety lever so that you can shoot him when you press the trigger."

Kira looked at the gun and blush in embarrassment when he saw that the gun was indeed secured. He looked at Mwu who nodded and reluctantly put away the gun.

Andrew laughed. "Listen to your elder, brat. He knows realize that the two of you are in a hopeless situation." He put away his gun. "Now, should we discuss about the term of your terrorist group's surrender."

Mwu grinned. "If we're to surrender, it wouldn't be to you, _Tarzan._"

The other man frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just as I said it. Andrew Bartfeld, a famous general who's willing to go the length to accomplish his missions but at the same time merciful to his enemies. For example, before you pound the town of Tassil to dust, you gave its inhabitants time to leave the place. It's not generally known to everybody but he likes Tarzan of the jungle and aspires to become just like his hero that he named himself as 'The Tiger of the Desert' even though everyone knows that there's no tiger living in desert. Am I missing anything so far?"

Andrew was gaping. There was only one person he knew that would make such a comment.

"You see, being involved in the gunfight just now is something unexpected but meeting you is something we predicted," Mwu continued.

Kira turned toward him in amazement. "We did?"

"We did." Mwu's grin widened. "Besides committing terrorist attacks remotely from the other side of the world and trying to kill ZAFT commanders with members we don't even know we have, Archangel also conduct princess rescue missions." He gestured toward Kira. "So you imagine what this brat brought in one day."

Mwu wished he had a camera to capture the expression on the famed ZAFT commander's face.

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (08 June 2011)**

1. I apologize for being unable to respond to any emails and reviews lately. Even though my access to the internet is good (most of the time), I really lack the time to really 'be on the internet'. I have yet to access my gmail account set up for fanfiction for the past month.

2. With this chapter, the story have forked. Yes, this is officially a Kira x Flay story. I'm planning to update the Kira x Lacus branch next but it's challenging to write her without being stereotypical. I'll update the KxL branch and then gauge the response to both story to determine how I should continue with the story whether to continue writing two different story or just focus on one.


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